A military court in Kuneitra imposed mild sentences today on six Druze villagers from Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights who were charged with failure to inform Israeli authorities of the existence of a Syrian spy ring in their village.
The accused who had originally pleaded not guilty changed their pleas to guilty yesterday. One received a three-year suspended sentence and will have to serve nine months in jail. Lesser sentences were meted out to the others and several were released immediately as they had served the terms of their sentences while awaiting trial.
According to the charges, the defendants were aware of the fact that two Syrian intelligence agents had been visiting the village on the slopes of Mt. Hermon regularly between the end of 1970 and the middle of 1972. Other Majdal Shams villagers directly implicated in the spy ring were awaiting trial.
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