Jerusalem Post Revives False Charge of Treason - Pollard's Wife Responds

Justice4JP Release - February 21, 2002

Sir,

My husband, Jonathan Pollard, was never accused of, indicted for or convicted of treason, contrary to a recent report in the Jerusalem Post. [MK Kleiner to visit Pollard in North Carolina prison - By Gil Hoffman - 02/20/02]. He also was never charged with harming or intending to harm the US. These are false charges that have been leveled at him only in the court of public opinion, never in a court of law.

Jonathan and his attorneys have worked assiduously for years to refute these false charges in the media and have met with a good measure of success. But a brief instance of sloppy reporting by the Jerusalem Post revives these canards in a disproportionate measure, undoes years of hard work, and provokes severe consequences for Jonathan.

In fact, the only charge Jonathan was ever indicted for was one count of passing classified information to an ally, Israel. There were no other charges against Jonathan, and no charges were dropped as part of the plea agreement he entered into with the US.

In complete violation of the plea agreement - which Jonathan honored and the US violated - Jonathan is now serving his 17th year of a life sentence, for an offense which usually carries a median sentence of 2 to 4 years.

It would behoove Post journalists, writing about a case as sensitive as Jonathan's, to take a moment and read the basic facts of the case. We have made them available on the Justice4JP web site at the Facts page.

To say that the Jerusalem Post has done Jonathan Pollard a disservice by recycling a false charge of treason against him, is an understatement. It is incumbent upon the Post to issue an apology and a correction.

Yours truly,
Esther Pollard
(Mrs. Jonathan Pollard)

cc Eliot Lauer Esq.
Jacques Semmelman Esq.
Larry Dub Esq.