VANUNU OUT OF SOLITARY; PAROLE DENIED

Nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu took a step toward freedom on March 12 when he was released from solitary confinement in a small cell at Israel's Ashkelon Prison.  After eleven and a half years with little human contact, he is finally allowed to be among other prisoners and to embrace visiting family members.

The campaign working for his release in Israel and around the world celebrated this step forward, while increasing their efforts to secure his unconditional freedom.  Many thousands of signatures were gathered on an international appeal for clemency, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former President Jimmy Carter, and Nobel Peace Laureate Professor Joseph Rotblat.  During this50th Jubilee year for Israel, Israeli President Weizman will grant clemency for hundreds of prisoners, and a delegation delivered the appeal to him in mid-April.

Israeli activists have kept the pressure on, holding several demonstrations at Ashkelon Prison. On April 3, a Citizens Verification Team attempted to inspect an Israeli nuclear site while calling for Vanunu's release (see story, page 9).  In mid-April, an ad with 600 signatures was placed in a national paper, calling on the authorities to release Vanunu.  These and other efforts within Israel have contributed to an increase in favorable media coverage there on Vanunu.

Having served two-thirds of his 18 year sentence, Vanunu became eligible for parole in April.  He was denied parole at a hearing on May 4.  The board stated that Vanunu presented a "real and tangible danger to the security of the state and its foreign relations were he to be released."  Another parole application can be submitted in six months.  An international vigil calling for Vanunu's freedom is planned in Israel prior to that date.

For more information contact the U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu, 2206 Fox Ave., Madison,WI 53711, (608)257-4764, e-mail: nukeresister@igc.org

Letters of support can be sent to Mordechai Vanunu, Ashkelon Prison, Ashkelon, Israel.

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last updated July 10 1998