Professor Avraham Klingberg, a 78-year-old prisoner who was arrested secretly in 1983 and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment on charges of espionage. For the first ten years of his imprisonment he was held in solitary confinement. He is in extremely ill-health, suffering from severe hypertension, angina pectoris, transient ischaemic attacks and has abnormal neurological symptoms. He also suffered a series of strokes, most recently on 20 November 1996. There is concern that the prolonged period of isolation constituted cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and may have contributed to the deterioration in his physical and mental state. Amnesty International is calling for him to be transferred to a less stressful environment or to be released on parole on grounds of health.
