Arbat Street
In February 1987 refusenik protests against Begun's continuing imprisonment took place on Arbat Street in downtown Moscow. The protesters, among them Begun's son Boris Begun, Begun's wife Inessa Begun, veteran refusenik Emilia Shrayer and other refuseniks, were attacked and beaten by KGB agents in plain sight of onlookers and foreign journalists. Following the refusenik protests, Begun's release from prison was announced on February 16, 1987, by Georgy Arbatov, a member of the Central Committee, in a "Face the Nation" interview on "CBS".