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Swiss Courts Gives Israeli Spy Suspended Sentence

In February 1998, five Mossad agents were caught trying to wiretap the conversation of a Hezbollah member in a suburb near Bern. Four agents were freed, but the fifth, Isaac Bental (the pseudonym used by the Mossad agent) was kept in custody because he had a diplomatic pouch containing the eavesdropping gear. On July 10, 2000, Switzerland’s highest court sentenced Bental to a one-year suspended prison sentence for his role in the wiretapping.

During the trial, Bental admitted that he was guilty of all three charges pressed against him: acting illegally in a foreign country, conducting political espionage and using false foreign identification documents. The federal court found Bental guilty of all three charge and prohibited him from entering Switzerland for the next five years.

Sources: Various news agencies.