Mordechai Vanunu, accused of passing State secrets concerning Israel’s alleged nuclear weapons arsenal to a foreign newspaper, will remain in custody pending a hearing on the Prosecutor’s request that he be held in jail until the end of his trial, Jerusalem District Court Judge Zvi Tal ruled Sunday. No date has been set for the hearing.
Tal also rejected a request by Vanunu’s attorney, Amnon Zichroni, to hold the hearing in public. The trial, when it begins, is expected to last about six weeks. Seven witnesses will appear for the prosecution and five or six for the defendant, according to Zichroni. Most of them will be from abroad and probably will testify as character witnesses.
Vanunu, a former technician at the Dimona nuclear facility, is accused of giving a British newspaper information alleging that Israel has been manufacturing nuclear weapons for 20 years and now possesses a sufficient number to rank sixth among the world’s nuclear powers.
FORMAL CHARGES PRESENTED
The charge sheet against him was formally submitted to the District Court on Friday and it appears less than likely that Vanunu will face the death penalty.
The charges cite two sections of the Criminal Code. Section 99 — assistance to an enemy in time of war — provides the death pen- alty or life imprisonment for “a person who, with intent to assist an enemy in war against Israel, commits an act calculated so to assist him.”
But a separate section of the Penal Code makes clear that a death sentence can be imposed only in time of active hostilities. Legal authorities believe that the prosecution will not request the death sentence because, while Israel remains technically at war with several Arab states, there is no actual warfare in progress.
The charge sheet also cited Section 113 of the Penal Code which provides life imprisonment for “a person who delivers any secret information without being authorized to do so and with intent to impair the security of the State. It provides up to 15 years’ imprisonment for anyone who “obtains, collects, prepares records or holds possession of any secret information … and thereby intends to impair the security of the State.”
Vanunu was present in court Sunday under heavy guard by police and security agents. Scores of reporters and media photographers were on the scene as he was driven to and from the courthouse in a civilian pick-up truck. None was able to get near him.
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