Mordecai Oren, a leader of the pro-Soviet Israeli Mapam Party, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison by a Czechoslovak court and Israel Shimon Orenstein, one-time employee of the Israeli legation in Prague, has been given a life term, a spokesman for the Israel Foreign Ministry announced here today.
The spokesman said that they had been convicted of espionage against Czechoslovakia. The information about the two men was forwarded to the Israel Government by the Czech Foreign Ministry October 30.
The Israeli spokesman, detailing the Israel Government’s efforts over the past 22 months to locate and obtain the freedom of the two Israelis, revealed that Israel has protested the convictions and will continue its efforts to secure their release. He said that Mr. Orenstein was convicted on August 7, 1953, and Mr. Oren on October 9, 1953.
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