Russia Hosts Ex-Prisoner of Soviets

MOSCOW — Back in Russia for the first time since he was expelled 11 years ago, Natan Sharansky bowed his head Tuesday before the grave of a human rights champion and said a prayer in Hebrew.

Sharansky, a former Soviet political prisoner, came to pay his respects to his friend Andrei D. Sakharov, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his struggle against the totalitarian system.

Now Israel’s trade minister, Sharansky returned for an official visit to the capital he had not seen since his arrest two decades ago. He was denied permission to return for Sakharov’s funeral in 1989.

Accused of treason for fighting for Soviet Jews’ right to emigrate to Israel, Sharansky was convicted of spying for the United States. He spent nine years in Soviet labor camps before being freed in 1986.