- The High Court of Justice rejected Monday a petition
filed by nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu against the restrictions
imposed on him by the security services following his release from prison
in April.
- Vanunu was released from prison in April after serving
an 18-year term for revealing secrets about Israel's nuclear program to
the London Sunday Times.
-
- After the ruling was handed down, Vanunu said the whole
world can now see how two-faced the state of Israel is.
-
- "We are saying always that Israel is not a real
democracy and today we are seeing it inside the High Court," Vanunu
told reporters. "We will find a way to continue to survive and demand
the rights to live as best we can."
-
- Vanunu has said he wants to live abroad and insists he
has no more state secrets to reveal.
-
- "My country is not Israel. My country is outside
of Israel. Israel didn't respect me for 18 years. For 18 years, Israel
condemned me as a traitor, as a spy. I don't like Israel, I don't want
to live in Israel. I want to be free and to leave Israel," Vanunu
said.
-
- Vanunu's attorney, Dan Yakir, said he regretted the High
Court ruling, and that the limitation imposed on his client violated basic
human rights.
-
- Vanunu said he is considering further legal action. He
could request the three-judge Supreme Court panel be expanded to hear the
case again, however such appeals are often rejected.
-
- Vanunu - who insists on speaking English - said he would
continue to live in St. George's Cathedral, a church not far from Jerusalem's
Old City, explaining that he feels more comfortable among Palestinians
and foreigners.
-
- Vanunu, who is now a prominent figure in the international
anti-nuclear weapons movement, also criticized a recent visit to Israel
by Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog.
- "I am very disappointed by Mr. Baradei because I
expected him to go and inspect the Dimona reactor," Vanunu said. "The
job of Mr. Baradei is to go and see if what I said ... if it's true.
-
- However, Vanunu did not wait for the court's ruling:
the London-based Arabic newspaper Al Hayat published an interview with
him Sunday, which would constitute a violation of these restrictions.
-
- Since his release from prison, Vanunu has been forbidden
to talk to the foreign press or maintain any contact with foreigners; to
travel abroad; to change his address without giving the security services
48 hours notice; or to leave town without giving them 24 hours notice,
among other restrictions.
-
- His petition argued that these restrictions unreasonably
infringe on his basic human rights, and that there is no security consideration
to justify them because he has already told the world everything he knows
about Israel's nuclear program. The state argued that the restrictions
are necessary because he still has important information that he has indicated
he would reveal if given the chance.
-
- In the Al Hayat interview, Vanunu charged that the Dimona
nuclear reactor endangers lives throughout the Middle East, because a strong
earthquake in the region could crack the reactor and cause radioactive
leakage that would result in the death of millions.
-
- He also told the paper that the Jordanian government
should start preparing for possible leaks from the reactor, just as Israel
recently decided to distribute anti-radiation iodine pills to people who
live near the Dimona reactor.
-
- He said that Jordanians living close to the border with
Israel should be tested for radiation exposure, claiming that the Hashemite
Kingdom is particularly at risk from the reactor because it operates mainly
when "the wind blows toward Jordan."
-
- Vanunu said that he does not believe that the United
States or European nations will press Israel to reveal the full extent
of its nuclear capabilities. He also blasted Mohamed ElBaradei, head of
the International Atomic Energy Agency, for visiting Israel earlier this
month and not putting any pressure on Israel to open its nuclear program
to international inspection. "He should have done here what he did
in Iraq," the paper quoted him as saying.
-
- Vanunu went on to say that he told the Sunday Times all
he knew about Israel's nuclear program, and that the information he had
"was enough to conclude that Israel presents a real danger to the
entire Middle East."
-
- Vanunu also said he believes Israel has managed to build
up its nuclear arsenal during the years in which he was incarcerated.
-
- Al Hayat said that this is the first interview Vanunu
has given to a newspaper since his release from an Israeli prison in April.
-
- 3. Write to Mordechai
-
- Mordechai would love to hear from his friends and supporters.
You can write to him at:
- Mordechai Vanunu
- c/o Cathedral Church of St. George
- 20 Nablus Road
- PO Box 19018
- Jerusalem 91190
- Israel
-
- and email him at <vanunumvjc@hotmail.com>
-
- =================
-
- If you would like to receive these alerts directly,
please subscribe by sending a blank e-mail to free_vanunu-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
- Felice Cohen-Joppa
- Coordinator
- U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu
- POB 43384
- Tucson, AZ 85733
- Phone/Fax 520-323-8697
- freevanunu@mindspring.com
- www.nonviolence.org/vanunu
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