Pollard still hospitalized with severe pain

North Carolina hospital says convicted spy for Israel in stable condition after collapsing in his cell

Aviel Magnezi - Israel News - December 3, 2012



After activists from the Free Pollard Campaign said over the weekend that the convicted spy for Israel was rushed to a North Carolina hospital after he collapsed in his jail cell, his wife Esther said Monday that hospital officials said that his condition has improved and is now stable.

The severity of his condition was not initially known.

Jonathan Pollard's wife said he was receiving strong pain management medication. Esther Pollard said her husband's condition apparently deteriorated to the various ailments he has been suffering from, including ongoing problems with his gall bladder and kidneys.

Esther Pollard said she expects President Shimon Peres and other heads of state work towards bringing about his immediate release. "President Peres must act as though it were his own son who was rotting in prison. The Pollard affair must end," she said.

In April Peres sent the White House an official letter requesting clemency for Pollard, but the US administration denied the request.

Our position has not changed in this case," National Security Council Spokesperson Tommy Vietor said. The Obama Administration "has no intention to release Pollard," he added.

Pollard was imprisoned for life in 1986 after accepting a plea bargain for spying for Israel while working as a civilian analyst for the US Navy.

Effie Lahav, one of the leaders of the movement to free Pollard said "after 28 years, including seven in solitary confinement, Jonathan's medical condition is very fragile. If it is not enough that so many senior American officials have already determined that his continued imprisonment is unjustified, then the humanitarian aspect obligates the State of Israel to make certain that this man does not end his life in jail."

View original article.