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Vladimir Agronik and Rabbi Wilhelm

Thai court frees Israeli on death row for drug dealing

Supreme Court in Bangkok acquits Vladimir Agronik after eight years in prison, accepting that he had no connection to another Israeli on death row for same offence.

A 39-year-old Israeli who has spent eight years on death row in Thailand for selling drugs, was this weekend set free by a Thai court and is now heading back to Israel.

 

  

The Supreme Court in Thailand acquitted Vladimir Agronik, after accepting his claim that he had no connection to the drugs found in the apartment of another Israeli, Alon Yigal Mahluf. But the court rejected the appeal by Mahluf, who has also been sentenced to death. Mahluf now has 60 days to seek clemency from the Thai king.

 

The two Israelis were arrested in December 2007 after 23,000 ecstasy pills found in Mahluf's home. They were both found guilty and sentenced to death. They petitioned the Supreme Court after their appeal to a district court was rejected.

 

Vladmir Agronik with Rabbi Nechemia Wilhelm in Thailand
Vladmir Agronik with Rabbi Nechemia Wilhelm in Thailand
 

 

The two men were jailed together in the wing for prisoners on death row in dire conditions. Agronik has maintained his innocence throughout, insisting he did not know Mahluf before, and had no connection to the drugs whatsoever.

 

Last Thursday, Agronik was taken unexpectedly to the Supreme Court in Bangkok, where he was acquitted. The Israeli consul in Bangkok, Orit Shani, immediately arranged his travel papers so that he could return to Israel on Wednesday.

 

Agronik's Israeli friends say that he has held on to his optimism and his humor over the years, and always manages to see the positive. "He's an amazing guy," they said.

 

Rabbi Nechemia Wilhelm, the Chabad emissary in Thailand who has supported Agronik over the past eight years, met with him after he was freed.

 

"He is still in total shock at his acquittal," Rabbi Wilhelm said. "The court accepted his claim that he had no connection to the affair. He has nothing left, and we are helping him to put his life back together."

 

Regarding Mahluf, Wilhelm said: "Thailand doesn’t generally execute foreigners, but we must keep up the pressure in case - heaven forbid - they deviate from this policy."

 

Israel's Foreign Ministry has been working behind the scenes for years to ensure that the death sentences were not carried out. From the minute Mahluf's appeal was rejected, he has 60 days to ask the king for clemency.

 

If that is granted, he will then be sentenced to a long jail term or life imprisonment, which opens the possibility of asking for Mahluf to be able to serve out his sentence in an Israeli jail. 

 


פרסום ראשון: 05.05.15, 22:54
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