Clinton Promises A Prompt Decision on Pollard Case
Ha'aretz - Monday, December 14, 1998 - (News Agencies )
U.S. President Bill Clinton promised a prompt decision on whether to free Jonathan Pollard after an American review is completed in January.
Clinton said he had promised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he would look into his request for leniency for Pollard, the former U.S. navy intelligence analyst who was sentenced to life in an American prison for handing over thousands of top secret documents to Israel in the mid-1980s.
*[Justice for JP: Not true! See web article Countering CBS News Disinformation on Pollard , point 10].
"I have instituted the review that I pledged to the prime minister, and we've never done this on a case before,
*[Justice for JP: If this is true, then what is the Commutation process? Clinton is admitting here what we have known all along, namely: that he has never done an honest review of this case despite numerous lengthy and detailed submissions that were made to him as part of the commutation process.]
but I told him I would do it, and we did it," Clinton said.The president, speaking at a joint news conference with Netanyahu, said he had instructed White House counsel Charles F.C. Ruff to sound out all the relevant intelligence and security agencies for their opinion.
Clinton said he would also weigh the opinions of Pollard's supporters,
*[Justice for JP: No advocate of Jonathan Pollard's case, and no non-partisan authority which might be able to give an unbiased accounting of the facts of the case has been consulted by Clinton or invited to participate in this kangaroo court review. See letter by Attorney Larry Dub to Clinton on the web and web article US Justice on Trial by Irwin Cotler for details]
"and I will make a decision in a prompt way.""We are giving everyone time to present their comments, and I will get comments on both sides of the issue, evaluate it, and make a decision," he added.
*[Justice for JP Note: The only submissions that President Clinton has invited are from those authorities known for their negative bias on the case, and whose public statements on Pollard are riddled with libel, gross distortions of the facts, and outright untruths. See Attorney Larry Dub's letter to Clinton on the web re: the one-sidedness of the so-called review process. See also US Justice on Trial by Irwin Cotler in the 1998 list.]
The review is expected to be completed by mid-January.Netanyahu told a joint news conference that he was not excusing Pollard's behavior but felt that the convicted spy should be released, as Pollard has been in what he said amounts to solitary confinement for 13 years.
*[Justice for JP: the median sentence for the offense Pollard committed is 2 to 4 years.]
"It's a very very heavy sentence, and since he was sent by us on a mistaken mission, not to work against the United States but nevertheless to break the laws of the United States, we hope that with a humanitarian appeal a way will be found to release him," Netanyahu said.
Pollard's supporters, including a Cabinet minister and four legislators, claim the U.S. intelligence community is exacting revenge on Pollard and that other spies have been released after serving shorter terms.
An American official confirmed last week that Pollard's illegal communications to Israel had included a top-secret 10-volume manual used by the National Security Agency to tap foreign communications and protect U.S. communications from being intercepted.