Jerusalem: A prominent Arab-Israeli human
rights activist was convicted on Wednesday of spying for Lebanon's
Hezbollah militia, a statement from the Israeli justice
ministry said.
In a plea bargain submitted to the Haifa district
court, Ameer Makhoul "confessed to and was convicted of...
espionage and aggravated espionage," the statement said.
He also pleaded guilty to charges of "contact with a
foreign agent and conspiracy to aid the enemy in time of war."
The state dropped a charge of assisting the enemy in
time of war. The ministry said prosecutors were seeking a
10-year prison term while the defence sought a maximum of
seven years. He will be sentenced in December.
According to the revised charge sheet, a copy of
which was provided by the justice ministry, Makhoul met Hassan
Janna, a Lebanese-born Hezbollah recruiter living in Jordan,
during a trip there "around the year 2004."
The two remained in touch and in 2008 Makhoul
agreed to help Hezbollah against Israel, it said.
Later that year, the document says, he met another
Hezbollah agent in Copenhagen who installed a communications
programme on Makhoul's laptop computer through which he could
send messages to the organisation.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, October 28, 2010, 00:23