In Soviet Russia there was unusually lenient treatment of disidents who were famous in the west.

The best example is the famous author Alexander Solzhentsin who was an active dissident but went unharmed for years, while people were sent to Syberia for just owning one of his books.

Another example is the physicst Andrey Sakharov.

BTW. Did you know that the only place in the world where a public place is called after Sakharov is in Israel? Ganey Sakharov in the entrance to Jerusalem.