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Israeli court sentences Syrian ‘spy’ to 14 years in prison

May 17, 2017 at 10:39 am

Israeli soldiers wrestle down a Palestinian on 31 May 2015 [Nedal Eshtayah/Apaimages]

The Israeli central court in Nazareth sentenced a Syrian citizen to 14 years in prison on Tuesday, Quds Press has reported. Sidqi Al-Maqt from the occupied Golan Heights was accused of spying, contacting a foreign agent and planning to carry out criminal acts.

The court claimed that he acknowledged that he passed information about the activities of the Israeli army in the Golan Heights to Syrian intelligence agencies. The information was then broadcast by Syrian television, it was alleged.

Al-Maqt was sentenced while he was on hunger strike. He is 50 years old and has already spent 27 years in an Israeli prison over claims he spied for Syria. He was released in August 2012 before being re-arrested in February 2015 on the latest charges, along with his alleged accomplices.

Read: Plans to divide Syria serve Israel’s interests

The court imposed a media gag order on the details of the case. However, it allowed journalists to report a little information about the detention of a number of Syrians from the Golan Heights by the Israeli Shabak (internal security agency). They have all been accused of transmitting information about the Israeli army to the Syrian security services.