Kim Bullimore
On March 17, the Israeli state moved to re-arrest and charge nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu with 22 counts of violating the restrictions placed upon him when he was released from jail in April last year.
Vanunu's arrest came one month before the restrictions are due to expire. The restrictions prevented him from talking to non-Israeli citizens or international media, and restricted his movement, including forbidding him from leaving Israel.
Vanunu spent 18 years in jail, 11 of them in solitary confinement, for revealing that Israel was building a nuclear arsenal. On April 20, he will formally receive the 2005 Norwegian People's Peace Prize for "his courage to protect the people in Israel, the Middle East and the world against destruction in a nuclear holocaust".
The day before his arrest, the Israeli Knesset's (Parliament) Constitution, Law and Judiciary committee had been scheduled to conduct a debate on Vanunu's restrictions. Despite international witnesses and supporters flying into Israel to give evidence for Vanunu, the debate was cancelled at the last minute.
In a letter prepared for the Knesset, Vanunu pointed out that "I have no more secrets to tell and have not set foot in Dimona [the nuclear facility where Vanunu worked] for more than 18 years. I have been out of prison, although not free, for one year.
"Despite the illegal restrictions on my speech, I have again and again spoken out against the use of nuclear weapons anywhere and by any nation. I have given away no sensitive secrets because I have none. I have not acted against the interests of Israel nor do I wish to. I have been investigated by the police again and again, and re-arrested twice, but they have found nothing. I have done nothing but speak for peace and world safety from a nuclear disaster."
If convicted of the violations, Vanunu will be sent back to prison. However, he has continued to defy Israel, telling the international media that he did not care if Israel charged him with 50 counts and that he would continue to exercise his right to freedom of speech.
One of the charges leveled against Vanunu is for "attempting to leave the country". The charge stems form Vanunu's attempt to enter the West Bank town of Bethlehem on December 24 to participate in Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. For this was placed under five days house arrest.
From Green Left Weekly, April 13, 2005.
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