An Israeli nuclear whistleblower, who served 18 years in prison for revealing state secrets, returned to prison on Sunday after failing to report for community service as part of a sentence.
Mordechai Vanunu was taken into custody after failing to report for community service in a Jewish neighbourhood as part of a sentence handed out by a court few months back for violating the terms of his 2004 release. Vanunu had requested to be allowed to do community work in Arab neighbourhoods of East Jerusalem and petitioned the Supreme Court for such an arrangement saying “he would be in danger working among Jews”.
The court turned down his petition sending him back to prison for three more months. Vanunu was released form in 2004 after serving an 18-year sentence, mostly in solitary confinement, for treason and espionage after he revealed the secrets of the Dimona nuclear plant to the Sunday Times of London in 1986. The Israeli government immediately imposed severe restrictions on him which included a ban on leaving the country and meeting foreigners. —PTI