No sign Australian spy was suicidal
2013-02-14 17:33
Jerusalem - A top-secret Israeli-Australian prisoner
jailed on security grounds gave no indication he was about to commit suicide,
an Israeli lawyer who met him just days before his death said on Thursday.
"When I saw him, there was nothing to indicate he
was going to commit suicide," said Avigdor Feldman, a top human rights
lawyer who met the man known as Ben Zygier before he was found hanged in his
cell at Ayalon Prison near Tel Aviv in December 2010.
According to Australian broadcaster ABC, which broke the
story on Tuesday, Zygier was a 34-year-old native of Melbourne who moved to
Israel in 2001 and was working for Israel's Mossad spy agency.
Although Israel has admitted jailing a man with dual
nationality who ended his own life in December 2010, all other details about
why he was arrested are subjected to a tight gag order.
In an interview with Israel's army radio, Feldman said he
had met the man formerly known as "Prisoner X" to offer him advice
ahead of his trial.
"His family asked that I meet him to advise him. The
trial hadn't properly started yet," he said, indicating the prisoner had
already been indicted and that talks were under way with senior prosecutors to
reach a plea bargain.
"He asked for advice and I sat and listened to him.
Not that I'm a psychologist, but he appeared rational, focused, he spoke
clearly about the issue and didn't exude any sense of self-pity."
A day or two later, Feldman's liaison at the prison rang
him to say the prisoner had died.
The lawyer admitted he was surprised "that a man who
was being held in a cell like that, a cell which was being monitored and
checked 24-hours a day, could manage to commit suicide by hanging
himself."
Feldman, who said he knew the prisoner's real name and
had access to the file on his arrest but was unable to give any details for
legal reasons, said it was clear the detainee was facing a very long jail term.
"I understood that he was told he was likely to face
the longest possible jail term and that he was likely to be ostracised by his
family," he said.
Until Wednesday night, Israel imposed a complete media
blackout on the details of the case, but after easing the restrictions somewhat,
the justice ministry admitted jailing an Australian with Israeli nationality on
security grounds who had taken his own life in December 2010.
It said an inquest into his death had rendered a verdict
of suicide in a decision reached just six weeks ago.
