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ISRAEL: MANBAR SENTENCED TO 16 YEARS ON CHARGES OF TREASON

(16 Jul 1998) Hebrew/Eng/Nat An Israeli businessman has been sentenced to 16 years in prison in a high-profile treason case that has dominated the Israeli media this week. Nachum Manbar was sentenced on charges of treason for selling chemical weapons material to Iran in the early 1990s - which the court said threatened Israel's security. Scandal erupted over the case when it was alleged Judge Amnon Straschnov had a personal relationship with a female defence lawyer, which he denied. Prime Minister Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu applauded the sentence handed down by the judge, whom he had been accused of trying to influence by political opponents. Israel was abuzz over the trial of Nachum Manbar even before Friday's sentencing hearing. The Israeli businessman and former paratrooper was convicted last month of treason for selling 16 million (m) dollars worth of material to make nerve and mustard gas to Iran in the early 1990s. His defence lawyers tried to argue that Manbar was not alone in selling to Iran and insisted he did not supply the country with offensive materials. Manbar's trial was held behind closed doors for security reasons and testimony was not made public. Lawyers from both sides arrived at the Tel Aviv court on Friday to hear the punishment in the case of national security. And Manbar, the man the state has labelled as a traitor, entered the anxious courtroom awaiting his fate. But the trial itself drew as much outrage as the treason charges against Manbar. And most of it swirled around presiding judge Amnon Straschnov. Political opponents of Benjamin Netanyahu lodged charges that the prime minister had made contact with Straschnov during the case and tried to influence its outcome. Both Netanyahu and the judge denied the charges. Earlier this week, another scandal erupted for Straschnov when defence lawyers accused him of having had a personal relationship with a female member of their team. The woman, Pninat Yanai, was fired over the allegations before sentencing took place. Judge Straschnov again denied the allegations and refused calls from the defence to remove himself from the case. When it came time to deal with the business at hand, his ruling was firm - 16 years in prison for Manbar, four years shy of the maximum sentence allowed. Amnon Zichroni, Manbar's defence attorney, said he plans to appeal the ruling. SOUNDBITE: (English) "He got only 16 years, but it's a severe, very severe punishment and that, of course, is one of the reasons for the appeal and we are going to appeal against the judgement itself - that means the findings and conclusions of the court." SUPER CAPTION: Amnon Zichroni, Manbar's defence attorney Dvora Chen, prosecutor in the case, said her team was pleased with the ruling which came to close to the full punishment they sought. SOUNDBITE: (Hebrew) "Is always expected that we will not get punishment we asked for, and the difference between the punishment we have asked and the one the was given in court is not very significant, to my humble opinion" SUPER CAPTION: Dvora Chen, prosecutor in the Manbar case Speaking in his office in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Netanyahu said Manbar committed a grave crime and deserved the punishment which was handed down. SOUNDBITE: (English) SUPER CAPTION: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister It was a case involving the hot topics of treason, poisonous weapons and threats to national security. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...