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| By: israelinsider staff |
| Published: April 30, 2007 |
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The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court found nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu guilty on 14 counts of violating a court order to avoid contact with foreign journalists and of attempting to travel to Bethlehem without permission.
In 1986, Vanunu, a former employee at the Negev Nuclear Research Center near Dimona, gave the English paper The Sunday Times information that led experts to conclude that Israel had a large number of nuclear weapons, ranking it sixth in the world. Vanunu served an 18-year prison term for his disclosures. He was released from prison in 2004, but has been arrested numerous times since then.
The verdict could mean added jail time for Vanunu and damage his battle to leave Israel, which the government has denied every year, due to security concerns.
Ynetnews reported that Vanunu told reporters that the verdict was "additional proof that there is no democracy in Israel," adding that all he wanted was to move freely and to leave Israel. "I want to leave this country," he said. "I want to be free."
Since his release from prison, Vanunu has fought for Israel's disarmament and has denied that he bears more secrets that he could reveal if allowed to leave the country.
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