Berlin – Prosecutors say an alleged Israeli spy wanted in connection with the slaying of a Hamas leader in Dubai earlier this year has been set free on bail by a German judge.
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Cologne prosecutors’ spokesman Rainer Wolf said after a closed-doors hearing Friday that the suspect known as Uri Brodsky is free to travel wherever he wants to go while judicial proceedings against him in Germany will continue.
He said: “He can return to Israel today if he wants to.”
Prosecutors accuse Brodsky of illegally helping to procure a German passport used in connection with the Jan. 19 slaying of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, allegedly by a Mossad hit squad.
Brodsky was arrested June 4 at Warsaw airport. He was extradited to Germany on Thursday.
I guess this is a breaking news story and the reporters haven’t yet had a chance to ask experts why this happened. It seems strange that Germany would seek his extradition, but now release him (and make a point of saying that he could leave the country)? Did they just want to embarrass Israel a bit more, but not want to imprison anyone?
I don’t know whether it is the whole reason, but it may be because of the ruling of the Polish court. Some articles mentioned that Germans wanted to charge Brodsky with espionage against Germany. The Polish court ruled out that Brodsky could not be extradited for this reason because it is not an offense in Poland. Instead it allowed extraditing Brodsky on charge of forgery which is a smaller offense. Because of that the German court can now only trial Brodsky for forgery but not for espionage.
Maybe it’s just the easiest way to get him out of Europe and back to Israel with a minimum of fuss.