Israel has partially lifted a gag order over the investigation an Australian-Israeli dual citizen who died in an Israeli prison. Ben Zygier, a Mossad spy agent reportedly gave Australian intelligence details of his work, leading to his arrest.
He was known as "Prisoner X," and his suicide in prison was kept under wraps by Israel, until recently, as foreign reports began investigating the incident. Zygier committed suicide in December, 2010. He was reportedly sentenced for divulging sensitive security offenses to the Australian service, which still remain unspecified. The Mossad has always kept its military and secret service operations purposely hidden.
According to new information released Tuesday, Israel concluded that Zygier killed himself on December 15, 2010 by hanging himself in his prison cell by tying a wet sheet to the window bars in his cell shower and wrapping the other end around his neck. The Jerusalem Post cited a December 2010 report by Judge Daphne Blatman-Kadrai, placing direct blame on the Israel Prison Service, saying they failed in their responsibilities to Zygier and that, "at the conclusion of the investigation found evidence to blame officials in the IPS for causing the death of the deceased."
The case of the Melbourne-born Zygier broke in Israel last week, when the Australian Broadcasting Corporation ran an investigative report alleging that Zygier was the so-called "Prisoner X", an anonymous prisoner who killed himself in solitary confinement in 2010, with his very existence unknown to the public.
The report alleged that Zygier, who went by Ben Alon in Israel, was possibly working for the Mossad at some point before he was arrested in early 2010. Zygier also reportedly gave up the identities of Mossad operatives to Dubai authorities following the Mabhuh hit in 2010, which killed a wanted Palestinian terrorist.
