[image: Gonen Segev, a former Israeli cabinet minister indicted onsuspicion of spying for Iran, is escorted by prison guards as he arrives tocourt in Jerusalem. PHOTO:AFP]

JERUSALEM: A former Israeli government minister went on trial on Thursdayon charges of spying for arch-foe Iran in a case which has been kept undertight wraps on security grounds.

Gonen Segev, who served as energy and infrastructure minister from 1995 to1996, is charged with “espionage against the state of Israel, assisting theenemy in time of war and passing information with the intention of harmingstate security.”

Journalists were excluded from the hearing, which was held behind closeddoors at Jerusalem district court, an *AFP* correspondent reported. Most ofthe detailed charge sheet has been redacted in its published version.

The brief hearing saw the charges read out to Segev, lawyers said, and thecase was adjourned until September, without a precise date set.Prosecutor Geula Cohen stressed to journalists outside the court the“seriousness of this case implicating a former minister accused of spyingon behalf of Israel’s main enemy.”

Segev’s defence lawyers have previously alleged that the few details madepublic so far have given a misleading impression.

Lawyer Moshe Mazor told journalists Thursday he could not discuss detailsdue to the state-imposed censorship surrounding the case, but added that hehoped “this affair will regain its proper proportions by the end of theproceedings.”

Segev is accused of providing Iran with “information related to the energymarket, security sites in Israel, buildings and officials in political andsecurity bodies, and more” while he was living in Nigeria between 2012 andhis arrest at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport in May this year.

He is accused of travelling to Iran to meet his minders.

Segev, who served in the Labour government of prime minister Yitzhak Rabinafter defecting from the far right to cast the decisive vote in favour ofthe Oslo II agreement with the Palestinians, has previously served prisontime on criminal charges.

In 2004 he was charged with trying to smuggle 30,000 ecstasy pills intoIsrael from the Netherlands, using a diplomatic passport with a falsifiedexpiry date.

The following year he admitted the charges as part of a plea bargainagreement.

He has also been convicted of attempted credit card fraud. – APP/AFP