BICOM

Israel’s Justice Ministry yesterday released the full content of an investigation into the death of Australian-born Ben Zygier, who hanged himself while in isolation in a high security section of Ayalon Prison near Tel Aviv in December 2010.

In February, the case of Zygier, known to prison staff simply as ‘Prisoner X’ came to light following an Australian media report. Although the nature of Zygier’s offence, which resulted in his incarceration remains top secret, it is assumed that it is connected with his role as a suspected Mossad agent. An investigation into Zygier’s suicide took place following his death and the full details of the probe were made public yesterday. The document included a ruling by Israel’s State Prosecutor, Moshe Lador who said that there was not sufficient evidence to prosecute members of the Israel Prison Service or other individuals for causing Zygier’s death due to reckless behaviour. As a result, there will be no indictments over the case.

However, the report made public for the first time Zygier’s movements and state of mind prior to his death. In a detailed account, the document revealed that he had been visited by his wife and baby daughter just hours before his death in what had been an emotional exchange. The report said that an intelligence officer noted Zygier was “visibly upset and crying.” The officer reported this to his superior who informed Zygier’s social worker. The document released yesterday also noted that Zygier had been seen by three different psychiatrists on 14 occasions and had met with social workers 57 times during the nine months of his incarceration.

The report concluded that although there were shortcomings in the prison system monitoring Zygier, nobody was found to be directly negligent.