Syria: 19 year-old blogger accused of espionage

06 Oct 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost

A teenage blogger who has been detained for nine months has been accused of spying for the American Embassy in Egypt. Tal al Mallohi, who is currently being held in Duma women’s prison near Damascus, was arrested by Syrian Intelligence Services in December 2009, in connection with a street attack on security services. She is accused of providing information that led to the incident. Mallohi has been denied access to a lawyer, and has had her computer and other personal possessions confiscated from her parents’ house. Her family have not been allowed to contact her. She is expected to appear in court in the next few days.

Israel: Director to appeal banning of spy documentary

25 Jun 10 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost

Nir Toib, director of a banned film which exposed an espionage scandal within the Israel Defense Forces[IDF], is to appeal the documentary film’s banning at the Supreme Court. The Secret Kingdom features interviews with Brigadier General Yitzhak Yaakov, Israel’s first chief scientist and a former research and development head for the IDF, who is accused of espionage in the documentary. Toib refutes the military censor’s claims that the film divulged nuclear secrets, instead arguing that the majority of the information which was cut from the original version of the film was already within the public domain.