Yesterday, Ameer Makhoul accepted a plea bargain in the espionage case against him. The Public Committee for the Defense of Ameer Makhoul released the following statement:
Defense lawyers in the case of Ameer Makhoul have reached an agreement with the state prosecutors on the terms of a plea bargain in the case. In accordance with the terms of the plea bargain the most dangerous item in the original list of accusations against Ameer, that of “aiding the enemy in time of war,” was dropped. The defense lawyers pointed out that in accordance with the amended list of indictments, the information he passed to an enemy agent includes no secrets. It is the sort of information that any interested party locally or abroad can access easily. Still, the act of transferring it to a foreign agent is defined in the letter of the dry law in Israel as espionage.
Legal experts estimate that the original unamended list of accusations could have carried a jail sentence much in excess of the 7-10 years that the plea bargain specifies. This true especially in light of the current poisoned Israeli political atmosphere, the dominant anti-Arab views and the continuing rush of the right towards fascism, They also pointed to the prominence of Ameer’s international role as another factor that could negatively affect the outcome of his case. In reaching their decision, the defense team took these views into consideration as well as the known precedents in Israeli security related cases. The court will decide on the exact terms of the ruling in accordance with the negotiated plea bargain in its next session on December 5, 2010.
A large number of the members of the Committee for the Defense of Ameer Makhoul were present in court today to show their solidarity with Ameer and to challenge the court to rise above the poisoned street mentality in his case.
