Who Killed X?
In all the international media hype, mainly by people who know no more than you and I know about Prisoner X, I haven't seen the question put in black and white.
Who Killed Prisoner X?
Prisoner X's identity has been publicised, Mr Ben Zygier, an Australian national, who held an Israeli identity, Ben Alon, as well as alternative names Ben Allen and Benjamin Burrows. We'll call him "Ben".
Ben was a lawyer, who worked for a spell at the prestigious Israeli law firm Herzog Fox & Neeman.
Allegations abound that Ben worked for the Mossad; there is speculation that he also worked for ASIO (the Australian intelligence agency), and had traveled in the Arab world using his Australian/other passports.
Ben was apparently arrested in Israel 10 days after the revelation that the team who assassinated Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh in Dubai had used forged or stolen passports, including three from Australia.
The media has not yet reported what charges were brought against Ben; however, he did not reach trial.
Ben was reportedly kept in highest security solitary confinement in the Ramle Ayalon Prison.
Ben's lawyer Avigdor Feldman has claimed that two days before Ben's death, he showed no sign of suicidal tendencies.
Feldman, by the way, is a human rights hero, winner of the Robert F.Kenedy Human Rights Prize. Feldman represented Mordechai Vanunu, the whistle blower on Israel's nuclear secrets, and is a founder of extreme left wing Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI). In short - Feldman's no Israeli Government stooge.
Ben was apparently found dead in his cell on 15th December 2010. The coroner described cause of death as asphyxiation by hanging.
Such a cause of death is highly improbable, as suicide-prevention was a major facet of this cell. Apparently it was designed and built for Yigal Amir, Yitzhak Rabin's assassin.
The sparse cell included 24/7 TV surveillance and devices to check his movement and pulse, particularly in the off-camera bathroom.
If Ben did not commit suicide, then who killed him?
It could only have been someone with access to the high security cell; this could include the prison guards, members of the security services, and his lawyer.
The prison guards would be best qualified to find a gap in the security system. And, on their low salaries, probably not impossible to infiltrate or persuade.
The security/intelligence services probably had strong motive, along with the technology to pull off a murder which resembled asphyxiation.
Mr Feldman sounds like an unlikely assassin of his own client. Although he had priveledged access to Ben, he is unlikely to have had a motive or the capability of pulling off such an assassination.
For those who may dismiss this whole discussion as weaving a web of conspiracy - get real.
This is definitely a conspiracy.
The only question is Who Dunnit?
Hmmm.
Inspector Clouseau?
Barry Chamish would be proud of you...
ReplyDeleteI vote the Mossad did it.
ReplyDeleteThey may have had access; they surely have the capability; and they almost certainly had an incentive - scores to even with Ben.
And, no, I'm not leaving my name on this comment.
Whoever it was, is clearly now feeling the heat.
ReplyDeleteMy bet it was Pope Benedict.
David,
ReplyDeleteGood analysis. I am not sure you are right about it being a faked suicide but you make a plausible case.
While his lawyer says he was in good spirits that may have been the temporary effect of human contact. Extended solitary confinement is recognized as a form of torture with profound mental effects. So suicide is possible in spite of the reports. I am not sure how long it takes to commit suicide.
The question is motive which brings us back to the question of why was he being held in such secrecy.
I doubt it was to prevent the scandal spreading about the Israeli use of passports from "friendlies." That cat was already out of the bag.
I assume he was a danger of being a whistle blower, but about what?
Vanunu was also held under extreme conditions because he was telling everyone he could about what was going on in Dimona and shattering the official line (which no one believed any more).
There is one story that he was going to blow the whistle on some deals with Iran which reminds one of the Iran-Contra revelations that Israel was involved in getting arms to Iran.
Now that would be very embarrassing for the sitting Israeli government. While everyone is claiming he was being held secretly for national security reasons, I suspect he was being held to protect someone's political behind. If so, the scandal is profound!
Does everyone forget that Yonatan Pollard has stated in interviews that the agents from the Intelligence services tried to persuade him to take his own life (check this out on (http://www.jonathanpollard.org/)?
ReplyDelete