Charges dropped in sedition trial

The Justice Department dropped sedition and racketeering charges yesterday against two of seven avowed revolutionaries accused of plotting to overthrow the United States government. The charges against Thomas Manning, and Jaan Laaman, were dismissed to expedite the trial being held for the other defendants in Springfield, Mass., a government attorney said. Only six jurors for the trial have been chosen since the selection process began five months ago.

The seven were charged with seditious conspiracy and racketeering, including a 1976 bombing in Boston that injured 22 people. Mr. Manning and Mr. Laaman already have been sentenced to long prison terms for related crimes.