The Supreme Court reduced yesterday from 13 years to 10 the prison term imposed on Mordechai Louk, the Israeli who was involved in a bizarre kidnap incident in Rome in 1964.
Louk was found drugged, bound and gagged in an Egyptian diplomatic crate at the Rome Airport by Rome police who heard his cries as Egyptians tried to place the crate on an Egyptian-bound plane. He returned to Israel and was tried and convicted on charges of spying for Egypt.
In announcing the reduced sentence, acting Court President Moshe Silberg cited the “suffering” of Louk while incarcerated in the trunk and during his detention in Rome by Egyptian agents. He had appealed the sentence, contending that he had agreed in Cairo to work for the Egyptian Intelligence only to escape imprisonment. He returned to Israel on his own volition, declaring he was ready to pay the penalty for any crime. He was indicted on six counts of espionage and of leaving Israel illegally.
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