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Photo: Avihu Shapira

2 Druze sent to jail for giving Syrian officers information on IDF

Two Druze residing in Golan Heights plead guilty to multiple counts of contacting enemy agents during Second Lebanon War. Court opts for lenient sentence, sends them to three, four years in jail

Cleared for publication: The Nazareth District Court sentenced two Druze men to jail Thursday, for a slew of grave security-related offenses.

 

The two were convicted of contacting a Syrian military officer during a Second Lebanon War and relaying information about the Israeli military's movements.

 

Yusuf Salah Shams (57) from Majdal Shams and Ata Najib Farhat (37) from the village of Mas'ada, both in the Golan Heights, were arrested in July 2007. They were convicted of multiple counts of contacting an enemy agent, and as part of a plea bargain with the State were sentenced to four and three years in prison, respectively.

 

Farhat is a well known figure in the northern Golan Heights. He is an outspoken advocate for returning the Heights to Syria and also acts as the Israel-based reported for several Syrian media outlets.

 

The prosecution claimed the Farhat "made the Syrian officer privy to information about the IDF's movements and the characteristics of units operating in the Golan Heights. He also gave his handler information about reinforcement operations along the Israel-Syria border."

 

Both defendants claimed their actions were not meant to harm Israel's security interests, and were done as part of their commercial relations with Syrian elements. Farhat also claimed that he was only performing his journalistic duty.

 

"While one should not overstate the importance of the information relayed to the Syrian handlers, once cannot understate its importance, or determine it posed no threat to national security," said the court.

 

The court did not spare the two its harsh criticism, but opted for a relatively light sentence, for reasons undisclosed. The offenses the two were convicted of carry a prison sentence of up to 15 years.

 


פרסום ראשון: 02.12.09, 17:24
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