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An Israeli nuclear whistleblower who spent 18 years in prison is going back to jail.
Mordechai Vanunu was taken into custody on Sunday for violating the conditions of his 2004 release, which include a ban on meeting foreigners. His lawyer says Vanunu has a Norwegian girlfriend.
Mordechai Vanunu (Hebrew: מרדכי ואנונו, born in Marrakech, Morocco, on 14 October 1954) is an Israeli former nuclear technician who, citing his opposition to weapons of mass destruction, revealed details of Israel's nuclear weapons program to the British press in 1986.[1][2] He was subsequently lured to Italy by a Mossad spy, where he was drugged and kidnapped by Israeli intelligence operatives.[1] He was transported to Israel and ultimately convicted in a trial that was held behind close doors.[1] Regarded by peace activists as a hero for taking a stand against weapons proliferation, Vanunu has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize many times.[3][4]
Vanunu spent 18 years in prison, including more than 11 years in solitary confinement. Released from prison in 2004, he became subject to a broad array of restrictions on his speech and movement. Since then he has been briefly arrested several times for violations of those restrictions, including giving various interviews to foreign journalists and attempting to leave Israel. He says that he suffered "cruel and barbaric treatment" at the hands of Israeli authorities while imprisoned, and suggests that his treatment would have been different if he had been Jewish (Vanunu is a Christian convert from Judaism).[5]
This latest sentence follows his objection to doing community service in West Jerusalem, where he reasonably feared for his safety