Yigal Amir appeals confinement conditions, again

Yitzhak Rabin's killer says Prison Service resolve to keep him in solitary confinement discriminatory

Aviad Glickman|Published: 05.05.11 , 18:45

Yigal Amir, who assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, appealed Thursday to the Supreme Court over a Petah Tikva District Court ruling saying he must remain in solitary confinement.

The Petah Tikva District Court accepted a previous Israeli Prison Service and State Prosecutor's claim that Amir still poses a security risk and is also at risk of being harmed by other prisoners, should he be allowed to be part of the general prison population.

Attorney Ariel Atary, for Amir, told the Supreme Court that there was no evidence to suggest that Amir poses a danger or would be in danger, nor was there evidence to substantiate IPS claims that he may try and "spread his radical views."

Amir, through Atary, also claimed he was discriminated against: He is held in solitary confinement, said the appeal, while other prisoners – including serial killers, security prisoners, rapists and child molesters – were not.

The gravity of Amir's offense, said the appeal, "Does not measure up to that of offenses committed by (former Fatah Sec.-Gen.) Marwan Barghouti or Ronny Ron."

Rabin's killer also claimed that the Shin Bet and IPS were "out to get him" and that "their motives are tainted" by their need to compensate for the security failures during the night of the assassination.

Amir further told the court that if the IPS is worried about his radical views, they can "pair him with prisoners who are left-wing activists, who would be immune to his ideology."