Tucson Antiwar Group Jailed

Five young people who refused to answer broad-ranging questions about their activities in the anti-war movement are returning to jail-possibly for the rest of the year-following a Federal court's refusal to overturn contempt of court charges against them.

The FBI took three of the group into custody Tuesday night, after their appeal had been turned down. The two remaining defendants surrendered themselves to authorities yesterday following a rally in front of the Federal Building in Los Angeles.

The five, all residents of Venice, California, had been free on bail since December 23.

The five were cited for contempt late last year when they refused to answer questions put to them at Federal grand jury hearings in Tucson, Arizona. The grand jury was convened ostensibly for the purpose of investigating an alleged Weatherman plot to purchase dynamite in Tucson and transport it to California.

Most of the questions asked of the five were not related to this matter, but concerned the five's political activities and associations.

The five at first refused to answer the questions on the basis of their privilege against self-incrimination. They were immediately granted immunity from prosecution, which meant that their refusal to testify was no longer protected by the Fifth Amendment.

When they still would not testify, they were cited for contempt.

One of the five defendants, Teri Volpin, has already served seven weeks of an eight-week contempt sentence. Others in the group have served from two to four weeks. Volpin will probably be called to testify again when her present sentence ends.

Last the Limit

Guy Goodwin, chief of the Justice Department's Internal Security Section and the main prosecutor in Tucson, has indicated that he will try to keep the grand jury in session until December 31, which is as long as the law allows.

Peter Young, an attorney for the defendants, said yesterday that the five were appealing to the U. S. Supreme Court and were seeking release on bail pending a decision in that appeal.