Bishop of Jerusalem describes Vanunu’s arrest
-11/11/04
The Bishop of Jerusalem has described h
Bishop of Jerusalem describes Vanunu’s arrest
-11/11/04
The Bishop of Jerusalem has described how heavily armed police commandos stormed his Jerusalem church compound and arrested nuclear whistle blower Mordechai Vanunu for allegedly revealing classified information, seven months after he completed an 18-year prison sentence for treason.
The description came in a leter to the Archbishop of Canterbury and other church leaders.
“Approximately thirty officers, many with guns, entered the cathedral gardens and interrupted breakfast in the Pilgrim Guest House. It was a traumatic event that terrorized many of our tourists, pilgrims, and staff. In the 100 years of the cathedral’s history, such an event has never taken place” Bishop Riah said.
“Immediately I related how they have come into a sacred place, and that their guns were not welcome. The officers with guns withdrew to outside of the Cathedral Close; however, it came to my attention later, that at least one of the officers still carried a concealed weapon. This was after I had been reassured that all weapons had been removed from the church grounds. It is inconceivable why such force is mandated for procedures like today’s.”
“Mordechai was calm during the search, questioning the need for the interrogation, and they searched his room in his and my presence. They took his papers, laptop, and other possessions into custody. I called his lawyer, and he will meet Mordechai in Petah Tiqva.”
“This type of entry into a sacred space must not be tolerated by the churches throughout the world, and it must not be accepted by those who respect the rights and dignity of every person. We ask the government of Israel to stop such actions as these, and we call for the respect of sacred places in the Land of the Holy One” the Bishop said.
Police spokesman Gil Kleiman declined to discuss the nature of Vanunu’s alleged disclosures or to whom he made them.
Police removed papers and a computer from Vanunu’s rooms, Kleiman confirmed.
Vanunu, 49 and a Christian, was released from prison in April after 18 years, much of it in solitary confinement, for disclosing secrets he learned as a technician at the Israeli nuclear reactor in the southern town of Dimona in the 1980s.
Vanunu asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to help ensure his safety after he received death threats following his release from prison.
Vanunu also said he wanted to replace his Israeli citizenship with a foreign one, perhaps Palestinian.
He has acknowledged violating his release arrangement which barred him from meeting foreigners or discussing his work at Dimona, but he said he had no more classified information to reveal.
“We were sitting … having breakfast at nine o’clock, then all these military stormed in, running everywhere with heavy arms,” said Ninni Rydsjo, a Swedish aid worker staying at the hostel attached to the church.
“They were looking outside, everywhere. We were very frightened.”
“He was very upset. He said you don’t bring weapons in here,” Rydsjo said.
Vanunu was convicted in 1988 for divulging information and pictures of the Dimona reactor. The details, published in London’s Sunday Times, led experts to conclude that Israel has the world’s sixth-largest stockpile of nuclear weapons, including hundreds of warheads.
Israel has followed a policy of nuclear ambiguity, neither confirming nor denying it has nuclear weapons.
Vanunu, a convert to Christianity, became a hero to peace activists for his role in unveiling Israel’s nuclear program.
Upon his release from Ashkelon prison he was greeted by the Bishop of Jersualem and as his first act after release, took communion with him.
Peter Hounam, the Sunday Times journalist who published Vanunu’s nuclear revelations, said he was “horrified” by Vanunu’s arrest, and accused the Israeli authorities of using Thursday’s death of Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat to try to divert attention from it.
“I think they deliberately waited until Arafat died,” he told The Associated Press.
Bishop of Jerusalem describes Vanunu’s arrest
-11/11/04
The Bishop of Jerusalem has described how heavily armed police commandos stormed his Jerusalem church compound and arrested nuclear whistle blower Mordechai Vanunu for allegedly revealing classified information, seven months after he completed an 18-year prison sentence for treason.
The description came in a leter to the Archbishop of Canterbury and other church leaders.
“Approximately thirty officers, many with guns, entered the cathedral gardens and interrupted breakfast in the Pilgrim Guest House. It was a traumatic event that terrorized many of our tourists, pilgrims, and staff. In the 100 years of the cathedral’s history, such an event has never taken place” Bishop Riah said.
“Immediately I related how they have come into a sacred place, and that their guns were not welcome. The officers with guns withdrew to outside of the Cathedral Close; however, it came to my attention later, that at least one of the officers still carried a concealed weapon. This was after I had been reassured that all weapons had been removed from the church grounds. It is inconceivable why such force is mandated for procedures like today’s.”
“Mordechai was calm during the search, questioning the need for the interrogation, and they searched his room in his and my presence. They took his papers, laptop, and other possessions into custody. I called his lawyer, and he will meet Mordechai in Petah Tiqva.”
“This type of entry into a sacred space must not be tolerated by the churches throughout the world, and it must not be accepted by those who respect the rights and dignity of every person. We ask the government of Israel to stop such actions as these, and we call for the respect of sacred places in the Land of the Holy One” the Bishop said.
Police spokesman Gil Kleiman declined to discuss the nature of Vanunu’s alleged disclosures or to whom he made them.
Police removed papers and a computer from Vanunu’s rooms, Kleiman confirmed.
Vanunu, 49 and a Christian, was released from prison in April after 18 years, much of it in solitary confinement, for disclosing secrets he learned as a technician at the Israeli nuclear reactor in the southern town of Dimona in the 1980s.
Vanunu asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to help ensure his safety after he received death threats following his release from prison.
Vanunu also said he wanted to replace his Israeli citizenship with a foreign one, perhaps Palestinian.
He has acknowledged violating his release arrangement which barred him from meeting foreigners or discussing his work at Dimona, but he said he had no more classified information to reveal.
“We were sitting … having breakfast at nine o’clock, then all these military stormed in, running everywhere with heavy arms,” said Ninni Rydsjo, a Swedish aid worker staying at the hostel attached to the church.
“They were looking outside, everywhere. We were very frightened.”
“He was very upset. He said you don’t bring weapons in here,” Rydsjo said.
Vanunu was convicted in 1988 for divulging information and pictures of the Dimona reactor. The details, published in London’s Sunday Times, led experts to conclude that Israel has the world’s sixth-largest stockpile of nuclear weapons, including hundreds of warheads.
Israel has followed a policy of nuclear ambiguity, neither confirming nor denying it has nuclear weapons.
Vanunu, a convert to Christianity, became a hero to peace activists for his role in unveiling Israel’s nuclear program.
Upon his release from Ashkelon prison he was greeted by the Bishop of Jersualem and as his first act after release, took communion with him.
Peter Hounam, the Sunday Times journalist who published Vanunu’s nuclear revelations, said he was “horrified” by Vanunu’s arrest, and accused the Israeli authorities of using Thursday’s death of Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat to try to divert attention from it.
“I think they deliberately waited until Arafat died,” he told The Associated Press.