A judge says the US Parole Commission will have to explain the reasons it wants to monitor computer use and trace the whereabouts of convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.
Judge Katherine Forrest said at a hearing Monday in Manhattan federal court that a one-page explanation issued so far is insufficient.
She said she wants to know whether Pollard, released from prison last month, still possesses top-secret information that could endanger national security.
Defense lawyers for the former US civilian Navy analyst say information he possessed before he served 30 years in prison for spying on behalf of Israel is of no value. They say strict monitoring and a curfew are unreasonable.
Assistant US Attorney Rebecca Tinio says the Justice Department’s National Security Division says the majority of information Pollard once had remains classified.
Pollard was released from prison last month. He is planning to work in finance.
His lawyers have been fighting for a review of his parole conditions, which among other things, prohibit him from immigrating to Israel for five years.
Forrest said the review was “the first step, and I think this is the right step,” according to Reuters.
“If there is secret information Jonathan Pollard could disclose, then restrictive conditions could be necessary,” Forrest said, according to the report.
{Matzav.com}
You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. While I believe it’s vindictive to keep Pollard under the most onerous possible parole conditions, the fact is he did commit the crime and this was part of the penalty.
This might be a very good development for easing of the parole conditions, may it be so, after so much suffering.
no matter what you call it, he is still inprison