Trumped-up Charge

The Guardian
Tuesday January 8, 2008

Mordechai Vanunu, the Israeli nuclear whistleblower, is due in court today, this time to appeal against the six-month sentence he received late last year for talking to foreigners. This sentence was not for what he said to them but, in conflict with human rights legislation, just for talking.
And now, not content with their ongoing prosecution of Vanunu, the Israeli authorities have once again disrupted his Christmas activities, on this latest occasion detaining him and a young German woman for many hours as they were meeting at the American Colony Hotel. Vanunu reports the German woman was harshly treated, including lengthy and aggressive questioning, despite having done nothing wrong.

Could this be the latest attempt by the vindictive Israeli security services to mount new charges against Vanunu, just before he goes to court to challenge their previous trumped-up charges?

Ernest Rodker
London