Israeli parliament to probe Prisoner X death

Iran Press TV

Mon Feb 18, 2013 11:7AM GMT

The intelligence subcommittee of the [Knesset] foreign affairs and defense committee decided to hold an intensive inquiry into all aspects of the affair of the prisoner found dead in his cell.'

'The intelligence subcommittee of the [Knesset] foreign affairs and defense committee decided to hold an intensive inquiry into all aspects of the affair of the prisoner found dead in his cell,' spokesman of the Knesset's intelligence subcommittee Asaf Doron said in a statement.

On February 12, Australian reporter Trevor Bormann revealed on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that Ben Zygier was "found hanged in a cell with state-of-the-art surveillance systems" near Tel Aviv in late 2010.

For two years, a government gag order prevented journalists in Israel from telling the story of Prisoner X. The order was partially lifted by an Israeli court two days after the ABC report. Gag orders and military censorship are common in Israel.

Originally born in Melbourne, the 34-year-old Zygier had worked for the Israeli spy agency, Mossad, the ABC report said.

Following the revelation, the Tel Aviv regime was forced to admit that Zygier had been jailed under a false identity "for security reasons."

The Australian reporter added that he had been informed that the editors-in-chief and owners of the Israeli regime's main media outlets were summoned upon an order by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an hour after the ABC report was aired, and were asked by the head of Mossad, Tamir Pardo, not to report the ABC program.

Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr has said that Australia has called on the Israeli government to provide them with an "explanation of how this tragic death came about.'

Netanyahu, however, has urged discretion with regards to the case as 'overexposure of security and intelligence activities can damage, and damage badly" the Israeli security.

MYA/HMV