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Vanunu Denied Asylum in Norway
Norway will not grant asylum to Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu, the Associated Press reported Friday (see GSN, April 13). The Norwegian government confirmed Friday that it had rejected Vanunu’s application in November. “We have instructed (the immigration directorate), based on foreign policy consideration, that he must get a rejection. No one gets asylum in Norway when they have not applied in Norway,” said Erna Solberg, minister of local government and regional development. “We do not intend to invite Vanunu by giving him political asylum as an extraordinary measure.” Vanunu has applied for asylum from several nations. Sweden last year rejected his application, also stating that Geneva Conventions rules require asylum seekers to file the request in the country to which they seek to move, AP reported. Vanunu has not been allowed to leave Israel since being released last year after serving an 18-year prison sentence. “I am very sorry that they did not come to my side to work for my freedom and release from here, and at the same time as it (the application) has been declined, they should speak very clearly and loud against the government restrictions taking from me my human rights,” Vanunu said of the Norwegian decision (Doug Mellgren, Associated Press/PhillyBurbs.com, April 15). Israeli police plan to maintain limits on Vanunu’s travels and to whom he is allowed to speak, the London Guardian reported Saturday. Restrictions on Vanunu were set to expire one year after his release, which comes this week. However, he has already been charged with violating the terms of his release by speaking to foreign reporters and trying to attend mass in Bethlehem. Police intend to extend the restrictions, according to the Guardian. “It is as if they are trying to destroy him. It is the worst form of oppressive and obsessive behavior,” said Ernest Rodker of the Campaign to Free Vanunu and for a Nuclear-Free Middle East (Duncan Campbell, The Guardian, April 16).
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