Vanunu Pleads Innocent to Israeli Charges of Treason

Mordechai Vanunu, the former Israeli nuclear technician accused of selling the country’s atomic secrets to a British newspaper, pleaded innocent to charges of treason and espionage here Sunday as his closed trial began amid extraordinary security precautions.

The 32-year-old defendant was spirited in handcuffs from his jail cell to an East Jerusalem courtroom at 5 a.m. Sunday to prevent his having any contact with reporters.

A week earlier, Vanunu had managed to communicate with journalists by flashing a cryptic message written on the palm of his hand to waiting reporters through a police van window. The message indicated that the former technician had been abducted, presumably by agents of Mossad, the Israeli secret service, after flying from London to Rome last Sept. 30.

Windows Painted Over

This time, the van in which Vanunu was transported had its windows covered with white paint. The entire floor of the courthouse where his trial opened was closed to outsiders. And when he was escorted outside again after the 90-minute proceeding, armed guards shielded his face with a piece of burlap and held a red umbrella in front of him to further block him from view.

“He denied all the facts in the charge sheet,” said Vanunu’s lawyer, Amnon Zichroni. “A date was set for the next stage of the trial, but I am not allowed to tell you when that is.”

Israel radio said the case is expected to resume in about six weeks.

The charges against Vanunu are technically punishable by death, although the prosecution has reportedly decided to seek life imprisonment instead.

The Moroccan-born Vanunu, who emigrated to Israel as a child with his family, left the country early this year after being fired from his job as a night-shift technician at Israel’s top-secret Dimona nuclear facility. He allegedly took with him plans and more than 60 undeveloped photographs of a series of highly sensitive underground chambers said to house facilities for producing nuclear weapons.

Converts to Christianity

After traveling to Australia, where he converted to Christianity, Vanunu sold his story to the Sunday Times of London for what has been described as a “six-figure” sum that he never collected.

Based on his disclosures, the newspaper reported Oct. 5 that Israel had been building nuclear weapons for 20 years, and that, with a current stockpile of up to 200 warheads, it has become the sixth largest nuclear power in the world.

Vanunu, who had been in London, disappeared five days before the article appeared, but it was not until Nov. 9 that Israel confirmed he was being held here.

How he was brought here remains a mystery. While it has been confirmed that Vanunu was listed as a passenger on a London-Rome flight on Sept. 30, it is unclear whether he traveled alone or what inspired him to leave Britain. There have been numerous, unconfirmed accounts of his capture, including one report that he was lured out of London by a mysterious female Mossad agent named “Cindy.”

Were Laws Violated?

If, as he indicated, he was abducted in Rome, it remains unclear how he was brought here from to Italy and whether any Italian laws may have been violated in the process. Italy is seeking clarifications. The Israeli government previously assured Downing Street that no British laws were broken in his capture.

Israel has purposely maintained an ambiguous posture regarding its nuclear capability, saying only that it will not be the first to introduce atomic weapons into the region. The ambiguity is itself considered a deterrent against possible enemy attack.

Some analysts contend that by indicting Vanunu, the authorities appear to be lending credence to the assertions in the Sunday Times article.

However, Israeli media have noted that the prosecutor is not required by Israeli law to prove that Vanunu’s information is accurate to get a conviction and have also reported that he does not in fact intend to deal with the question of whether Israel actually has nuclear weapons.

It is understood that Vanunu is basing his defense on the fact that he did not give away secrets to an enemy country and that his motive was his ideological opposition to nuclear weapons.