Amir convicted for semen smuggling attempt

Semen smuggling affair: The punishment Yigal Amir, the murderer of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, was convicted Sunday at a disciplinary hearing at the Ayalon prison for attempting to smuggle semen out of his prison cell to wife Larissa Trimbobler.

Earlier in the week, the two received authorization from the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to bring a child into the world through artificial insemination but were evidently attempting to speed up the process on their own. Prison staff found a bag containing Amir's semen during a visit from Trimbobler Thursday.

In court Sunday Amir was sentence to a NIS 100 fine and was forbidden visits for 30 days and phone calls for two weeks. During the trial, Amir’s brother complained that the IPS was delaying the fertilization process.

“They’re dragging this out to harm Yigal’s chances of bringing a child into the world, and they’re harassing him. They want to break him. The state doesn’t accept the fact that he’s been in prison ten years and they haven’t broken him yet or changed his ideologies.”

“The IPS is harassing Yigal,” the brother said. “Before the visit he asked permission to pass the bag to Larissa and they authorized it. The bag contained a mixture of flour and milk, and Yigal just wanted to demonstrate that the IPS is abusing him.”

The pair had apparently planned the smuggling in advance, as a search by the prison's staff uncovered a test tube hidden among her belongings before she met with Amir.

Despite the find, the visit was allowed to go ahead, but after Trimbobler entered Amir's cell, prison guards noticed that he gave her a bag. Staff members ended the visit, and found that the bag contained Amir's semen. The bag was confiscated, and Larissa was taken out of the cell.

IPS Spokesman Ofer Lefler said in response: "Until the medical procedure is not completed in accordance with the judicial department, the transfer of semen will not be allowed."

The IPS said that it viewed the act with great severity.

Geula Amir: Prison Service is lying

The Amir family has responded with fury, refusing to believe that Larissa would do such an act, and are convinced that the IPS is lying. Geula Amir, Yigal’s mother, told Ynet: "They wouldn't do such a thing, it's not possible. Larissa wouldn't do such a thing, she's scared of her own shadow; especially when she knows that by doing so she would endanger her visits and the family's."

She added: "They don't let anyone move during the visit. The guards stand right next to them. Larissa couldn't pour a cup of coffee without seeing what was in it. This is a total lie. I expected that the IPS would try and do such a thing – to sabotage and prevent the insemination."

"Now they'll say that Yigal needs to undergo a serious trial and they'll delay the insemination," said Geula.

On Tuesday, the IPS and the State Attorney decided to allow an artificial insemination to go ahead, following a petition submitted by Amir.

Larissa has denied trying to smuggle Amir's semen outside of the prison. She says she arrived at the prison with a test tube, but when she was forbidden from bringing it in, she returned it to her car.

Yigal Amir's mother, Geula, says that the bag taken from Trimbobler did not contain semen, but milk and an egg mixed together as a prank, in light of not being allowed to start the insemination process on Thursday.

Miri Chason contributed to this report