Mystery of Prisoner X slowly unravels
The mysterious case of Prisoner X has caused a diplomatic storm in two countries and many questions remain unanswered.
Two nights ago, the ABC’s Foreign Correspondent program reported on the death of 34-year-old Australian Ben Zygier in an Israeli prison in 2010.
He was accused of espionage and treason and it’s understood the dual citizen was an agent of Mossad, Israel’s notorious intelligence unit.
But it’s unclear why he was imprisoned and in both countries pressure’s growing for an official explanation.
Hayden Cooper reports.
HAYDEN COOPER, REPORTER: An Australian man languishes in an Israeli prison. His identity is a secret. His alleged crime kept under wraps. It’s a story of intrigue and espionage stretching from the Middle East to Melbourne. But it’s a story that ends in suicide.
HARRY GREENER, FAMILY ACQUAINTENCE: We didn’t know anything about what happened to him except that there were whispers about Mossad and there were whispers about him being in detention and something went horribly wrong.
RICHARD SILVERSTEIN, AUTHOR: I try not to be too surprised about anything that happens in the Middle East, but, yes, this has really shocked me.
HAYDEN COOPER: Tuesday’s Foreign Correspondent investigation prized open the mystery case of Prisoner X, a man now understood to be an agent of Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency. A man also now believed to be Australian Ben Zygier. Its created a political uproar in Israel.
NITZAN HORWITZ, ISRAELI MP (voiceover translation): Today I call on the Attorney-General to check once and for all in a thorough manner what happened; why this man died and what were the circumstances of his imprisonment and death?
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