Subscribe to Print Edition | Fri., March 06, 2009 Adar 10, 5769 | | Israel Time: 23:20 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Jewish World Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Joy of Giving Travel Week's End Anglo File
Mordechai Vanunu. (Eli Tesma / Bau Bau)
Last update - 00:00 03/09/2007
Nuclear whistleblower Vanunu appeals jail term for foreign ties
By Reuters
Tags: nuclear program 

Nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu is contesting a new jail sentence received for maintaining unauthorized ties with foreigners after he completed an 18-year prison term for treason, his lawyer said on Monday.

Attorney Avigdor Feldman said that Vanunu had filed an appeal on Sunday with the district court in Jerusalem, where a lower court sentenced him to six months behind bars in July.

"The immediate significance is that my client will not be going back to jail any time soon," Feldman told Reuters, adding that he expected a decision on the appeal within three months.
Advertisement
Vanunu was first imprisoned in 1986 after giving a tell-all interview to a British newspaper about his work as a mid-level technician at Israel's main atomic reactor outside the southern desert town of Dimona. The disclosures all but blew away the iron-clad secrecy around Israel's assumed atomic arsenal.

Vanunu was freed in 2004 but barred indefinitely from leaving Israel by order of defense officials who argued that he had more state secrets to spill. Vanunu, 52, has denied that.

Under the terms of his release, Vanunu was also required to seek official permission for contacts with foreigners. Several unauthorized interviews he gave to international media about Israel's nuclear program landed him back in court.

Israel neither confirms nor denies having the Middle East's only atomic weapons under a policy of "strategic ambiguity" billed as warding off enemies while avoiding arms races.

Should the Jerusalem District Court rule against Vanunu's appeal, he could turn to the Supreme Court, Feldman said. However, the Supreme Court has already rejected a petition by Vanunu to overturn the travel ban imposed on him by the state.

A Jewish convert to Christianity, Vanunu argues that by refusing international inspections at the Dimona reactor Israel inflames regional tensions and risks a "second Holocaust". He has also said that Israel has no right to exist.

Jerusalem District Court had held off implementing July's sentence pending a decision by Vanunu on whether to appeal
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Bulldozer attack
Two policemen hurt in bulldozer terror attack in Jerusalem.
'Lapdancegate'
Witch-hunt of Navy chief over strip club visit misses the point.
  1.   And murderers go free 09:48  |  www.kibush.co.il 03/09/07
  2.   Deception is the norm 09:52  |  Natallie Durson 03/09/07
  3.   vanunu 10:26  |  schafe82 03/09/07
  4.   he is a traitor 10:40  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 03/09/07
  5.   200-300 nukes with ahmedinejad`s name on them 10:48  |  don 03/09/07
  6.   It seems to me... 10:51  |  Colin Wright 03/09/07
  7.   his disclosures added to israel`s security by re 12:36  |  palestnian 03/09/07
  8.   By the way. Have the italians apprehended the kidnappers yet? 12:52  |  Jens 03/09/07
  9.   What has Israel to hide? 13:22  |  Petteri 03/09/07
  10.   cipora kohn 4 14:11  |  realism 03/09/07
  11.   Kibbush,murderers go free if they`re pals 14:57  |  Absolute Sweden 03/09/07
  12.   Petteri,your Finland had been a russkie Troyan Horse of Europe. 14:59  |  Absolute Sweden 03/09/07
  13.   "30 Minutes with Vanunu" 15:37  |  eileen fleming 03/09/07
  14.   Petteri 16:14  |  k 03/09/07
  15.   Jens,why don`t yopu start with disclosing the identity of Bleking 16:15  |  Absolute Sweden 03/09/07
  16.   Vanunu 16:17  |  anyone 03/09/07
  17.   dr.vanunu 16:28  |  scanadu 03/09/07
  18.   Vanunu?s political / security value has gone 20 years ago. 16:52  |  H.H.M 03/09/07
  19.   to #5 don 17:00  |  nobodysacred 03/09/07
  20.   "ambiguity" about nuclear arsenal 17:02  |  nobodysacred 03/09/07
  21.   Vanunu : to Dear anyone 17:07  |  eileen fleming 03/09/07
  22.   Israel smears herself 17:10  |  Murray 03/09/07
  23.   Free Speech 17:28  |  Scott 03/09/07
  24.   In any other country 17:53  |  Shafrir Yisraeli 03/09/07
  25.   scott 23 17:59  |  realism 03/09/07
  26.   Murray #22 19:13  |  eileen fleming 03/09/07
  27.   WAKE UP Scott #23 19:26  |  eileen fleming 03/09/07
  28.   Eileen 00:24  |  k 04/09/07
  29.   in addition 02:06  |  k 04/09/07
  30.   diverting and PR 02:18  |  k 04/09/07
  31.   Counter-productive 08:20  |  JW 04/09/07
  32.   How petty !!!! 22:41  |  Jose Eduardo 06/03/09
 Haaretz Hot Topics
Israel 2009 election results: Voter breakdown
Israel goes to the polls
Conflict in Gaza
Israel vs. Hamas
Iran: Nuclear and regional ambitions
More Headlines
22:57 'No Lieberman-Netanyahu deal on cabinet posts'
21:01 Olmert: No peace without dividing Jerusalem
22:55 Iran, Hamas dispatch solidarity missions to Sudan president
18:06 Mauritania expels Israeli ambassador
21:59 Mass rallies aren't helping to free Gilad Shalit, says Olmert
20:04 U.K.: Renewed Hezbollah contacts are bid to disarm group
18:50 Elie Wiesel: Durban II likely to harm UN, not Israel
21:43 WATCH: Daily news round-up from Israel
20:45 Report: Israel promised not to hurt Hamas No. 2
14:17 Clinton says U.S. is 'testing waters' in outreach to Iran, Syria
20:04 Pots of urine, feces on the walls - how IDF troops vandalized Gaza homes
16:48 British singer Amy Winehouse charged with assault
Previous Editions
Special Offers
Advertisement
Spring Specials-Dan Hotels
Jerusalem from 179$. Tel-Aviv from 223$. Herzliya from 336$
Dead Sea Skin Care
Quality cosmetics from the Dead Sea. Coupon code HAARETZ for 12% off!
Summer in Israel
Israeli style - Tzofim Chetz V'Keshet 2009
Passover Vacations
The BEST Passover Vacations around ? Mexico, Arizona and Florida
Camp Kimama Israel 2009
The best place for your children this summer
Eldan Rent a Car
Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
Jewish Singles Personal Ads
Find the love of your life on JDate.com
Junkyard
Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | | Israel 2009 election results
Site rules | Makom: Engaging on Israel | Search engine marketing
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved