Don't miss her comment (thanks eileen)
Press Tv- via South lebanon
Israel has prevented a former nuclear whistleblower from receiving an international prize in Germany for work towards promoting disarmament.
Mordechai Vanunu, who revealed details of Israel's secret weapons program 24 years ago, was to be awarded the Carl von Ossietsky Prize in Berlin on Sunday.
According to a spokesman for the International League for Human Rights, the group has now decided to cancel the ceremony and hold a protest rally on behalf of the former nuclear technician instead, AFP reported.The Sfard had assured Israeli officials that the 56-year old atomic technician was willing to commit himself to returning to Israel following the ceremony in Berlin.
Vanunu was convicted of treason and spent 18 years in jail after disclosing the inner workings of Israel's Dimona nuclear plant to the Sunday Times newspaper in 1986 backed up by two rolls of film he had taken of the plant.
He was released in 2004 but was banned from travel and giving interviews to foreign media without prior permission.
Estimated to have more than 200 nuclear warheads, Israel still refuses to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and does not allow the International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to visit its nuclear sites.
SourceAccording to a spokesman for the International League for Human Rights, the group has now decided to cancel the ceremony and hold a protest rally on behalf of the former nuclear technician instead, AFP reported.The Sfard had assured Israeli officials that the 56-year old atomic technician was willing to commit himself to returning to Israel following the ceremony in Berlin.
Vanunu was convicted of treason and spent 18 years in jail after disclosing the inner workings of Israel's Dimona nuclear plant to the Sunday Times newspaper in 1986 backed up by two rolls of film he had taken of the plant.
He was released in 2004 but was banned from travel and giving interviews to foreign media without prior permission.
Estimated to have more than 200 nuclear warheads, Israel still refuses to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and does not allow the International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to visit its nuclear sites.
I began a series of interviews with Vanunu in 2005 and met with him on all 7 of my trips to Jerusalem.
ReplyDeleteOn 7 December 2010, I spoke with Nicole Thompson, Press Officer of the Day for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton requesting a statement regarding Mordechai Vanunu's right to leave the state and receive the 2010 Carl von Ossietzky Medal at the awards ceremony in Berlin, which has been replaced with a protest and the launching of an International Campaign: "Freedom to travel for the whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu"
I reminded her that Israel’s statehood was contingent upon upholding the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 13: 2 affirms “Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.”
On the morning of the 9th of December I again spoke with Ms. Thompson who assured me that I will receive a statement by the end of yesterday, but none came.
Perhaps it was because I told her it would be best if the Secretary of State first views Vanunu's message to her while she was still a Senator:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Omq-QG7isA
Eileen Fleming, Producer "30 Minutes with Vanunu" and "13 Minutes with Vanunu"
Author of BEYOND NUCLEAR: Mordechai Vanunu's FREEDOM of SPEECH Trial and My Life as a Muckraker: 2005-2010
Founder of WeAreWideAwake.org
Staff Member of Salem-news.com
A Feature Correspondent for Arabisto.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/eileenfleming