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He endured 12 days of brutal interrogation, including torture and sleep deprivation. After three weeks, he was charged with espionage, helping an enemy (Hezbollah) in time of war, contact with a foreign agent, and other spurious charges, all of which he denied.
On June 14, prosecutors claimed "secret evidence" against him, withheld from his lawyers for "security reasons." In addition, all attorney conversations were wiretapped, and despite requesting medical help from the Association of Physicians for Human Rights, it was repeatedly denied.
He remained imprisoned, a Committee for the Defense of Ameer Makhoul established on September 8 to defend him. Comprised of dozens of Jewish and Arab figures, it took collective responsibility because:
-- his arrest signified what he represents, not just himself, and it was done to warn other activist Israeli Arabs; and
-- charges against him were entirely spurious, his targeting to silence a respected, powerful, effective political voice for all Arab Israeli citizens.
On September 16, he was charged in Haifa District Court, even though Israeli prosecutors said his home and office computers, cell phones, other possessions, and transcripts of about 30,000 wiretapped phone conversations revealed no evidence of espionage.
On January 30, Haaretz writer Jack Khoury headlined, "Israeli Arab who spied for Hezbollah jailed for nine years," saying:
His "lawyers struck a plea bargain with the prosecution in October 2010, in which they asked for a reduced sentence of seven years, while the prosecution (wanted) 10....the maximum sentence for the charges against him."
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