Hans Lebrecht, a veteran member of Rakah (Communist Party) and a correspondent for several Communist newspapers in Europe, including East Germany, was arrested here yesterday on the charge of espionage. His arrest came shortly before he was due to leave for Jerusalem to cover the Israeli-Egyptian political committee talks.
Lebrecht, 50, had been a correspondent of the Israeli Communist newspaper Kol Ha’am and when it closed down due to financial difficulties he became the correspondent of Zu Ha’derech, the Communist weekly publication. He was also a correspondent for L’Humanite, the newspaper of the French Communist Party, and Unita, the Italian Communist Party newspaper. He had also visited East Germany and the Soviet Union several times.
His arrest was revealed in today’s edition of L’Humanite, which is demanding his release. Meir Wilner, head of Rakah, asked Interior Minister Yosef Burg to clarify the reason for Lebrecht’s arrest. Burg told him the arrest was made by members of the security services and that the charge is violation of Israel’s security.
Meanwhile, it was learned that Pascali Panitatis, a Cypriot who is a correspondent for a Communist newspaper there, was arrested last night in his hotel room in Tel Aviv on suspicion of espionage. There was no immediate indication of whether the two cases are connected.
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