21, 2004 0:32 Newly released prisoner Mordechai Vanunu left Shikma prison on Wednesday after 18 years in jail, on his way to his first stop after his release – St. George Anglican Church in Jerusalem. Wearing a white and blue checkered shirt and a tie, atomic spy Mordechai Vanunu stepped out of Ashkelon’s Shikma prison at 10:57 a.m. on Wednesday, greeted by thousands of supporters and demonstrators from Israel and abroad. Advertisement Walking out of prison to face hundreds of microphones and cameras, Vanunu said he had been kept silent for 18 years, and would make up for lost time. „If Israel won’t let me speak to foreigners I won’t speak in Hebrew,” he said. „For all those calling me a traitor I am proud of what I did and I’m glad I succeeded in what I did. I don’t have any secrets,” he said. All the secrets were revealed already 18 years ago in the Sunday Times article, Vanunu said. „All the talk about more secrets is bullshit and blah blah. My case is dead.” In spite of his brother’s entreaties to cease speaking, Vanunu continued: „I will continue to speak against all kinds of nuclear weapons. I come to end the silence ” Vanunu said that Israel does not need nuclear arms, especially in light of recent developments in the Middle East – referring to the fall of Saddam and Libya’s decision to scrap its WMD program. „My message to the world: Open the Dimona nuclear reactor for inspection.” Vanunu called on the UN to send inspectors to Dimona and reveal Israel’s atomic secrets. Vanunu wishes to move to the US
„I hope to soon leave Israel,” Vanunu said, even though he is forbidden to leave the country. „I want to go to the United States to marry a wife and teach history. I am now going to the church to speak to my friends and to thank God. And later I will start my life.” Vanunu, who was born Jewish and converted to Christianity, claimed that he was badly treated because he was not Jewish. „If I were Jewish this would never happen,” he said, adding that he thinks there is no need for a Jewish State. „If you make a distinction between Israelis and foreigners you make yourself an apartheid state,” Vanunu told reporters. Vanunu complains about ‘barbaric treatment’ „I have undergone cruel and barbaric treatment by the Mossad and Shabak (Shin Bet). In this prison you have a section 7 operated by Shabak-Mossad,” Vanunu said. „Last month they tried to destroy me,” he said. „They put me in isolation, took all my stuff, and the guards here all cooperated with the Shabak-Mossad. They found some papers I wrote in 1991 but I don’t have any more secrets,” he repeated. Reacting to Vanunu’s claim of ill-treatment in prison, Shikma Prison commander Yossi Mikdash categorically rejected any claims of „barbarity” saying, „We enforced security regulations and prevented him from speaking to other prisoners as was ordered. When he did, I put him on trial and punished him as I saw fit. Of course we searched his belongings, I would be surprised if he said we left him alone for 18 years.” Vanunu described his kidnapping, saying that a woman (Cindy) took him to her apartment, and as soon as they entered, two men, one Israeli and one Frenchman, attacked and drugged him. He was then taken to a small boat, then to a yacht upon which he was chained. His captors, he said, did not speak Hebrew to him, but told him they were „there for Israel.” Vanunu said he was taken to Caeseria beach by a commando unit, and from there to prison. Lawyer: Security officials leaked location of new apartment Vanunu’s release was held up Wednesday morning when the famous prisoner refused to give his new address following the publication of the location in Jaffa where he was to live in. Vanunu’s lawyer, Oded Feller of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, claimed that it was security officials who leaked the location of an apartment in Jaffa were Vanunu planned to reside following his release. According to media reports, Vanunu is planning to move to an apartment in Jerusalem, perhaps a building that belongs to the Anglican Church. Prior to his release, security officials confiscated some documents found in his cell, which contain detailed descriptions of manufacturing processes Vanunu learned during his tenure at the Dimona nuclear plant, as well as diagrams and floor plans of certain areas. Exercise books also contain courtroom protocols, including some that were held behind closed doors. Lapid calls Vanunu ‘a born traitor’ Justice minister Yosef Lapid, in an interview with CNN Wednesday morning, called Vanunu „a born traitor”, who does everything the radical left only dreams about, When asked about the human rights limitations placed upon Vanunu, Lapid replied, „Everything we have done is in accordance with British law that we inherited from the mandate.” Based on concepts created by the world’s foremost democracy, the Justice Minister said, „every country has a right to impose limitations on someone who endangers its existence.” When asked if it was not about time Israel „came clean” about its nuclear arsenal, Lapid promised that Israel would not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the region. „We are the only country in the world threatened with total annihilation, and we have the right to take steps against such a threat,” he said. Not a ‘free man’ Vanunu, the Dimona nuclear reactor technician who leaked Israel’s nuclear secrets and indirectly boosted the state’s deterrence, 49, will not be an entirely free man. The state, fearful he has more classified information to reveal, has imposed strict restrictions on his movements. Surveillance actually began before Vanunu’s release. His brother Meir said that he had been followed Tuesday by a number of cars driven by people he believes were security agents after leaving prison with his brother’s possessions. „[Mordechai] is very tense, and worried about what these restrictions are, and he doesn’t feel that he is going off to true freedom,” he told The Jerusalem Post after meeting with his brother. „He doesn’t feel good about having to remain here where there is a lot of hostility toward him.” The defense establishment’s efforts are an attempt not only to plug any potential leak of secret information Vanunu may still retain, but also to stop the potential international discourse regarding Israel’s nuclear potential. BPI.
