U.S. Woman Starts Israel Prison Term

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EDITOR'S NOTE — This story has been censored by the Israeli military censor. TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Terry Fleener, a 23-year-old American convicted of supplying information about the Jewish state to Arab guerrillas, began a five-year prison term Monday.

Miss Fleener, of San Antonio, Texas, confessed during a one-day trial last Tuesday to charges of conveying information to the enemy, conspiring to convey information to the enemy and rendering service to unlawful groups, her attorney reported. Other charges were dropped after she entered the guilty plea.

“It’s better than the death sentence,” Miss Fleener said after the closed-door trial. Her Israeli lawyer, Felicia Langer, called the five-year sentence, handed down Monday, “cruel and unbased.” She said she will appeal. “This is not a heavy sentence, compared to the maximum of 15-20 years,” said prosecuting attorney Sarah Sirotta.

“These are offenses which strike at the security of the state. In other countries she would be hanged.” Details of the proceedings were withheld, the customary procedure here in cases dealing with security. MISS FLEENER was arrested Oct. 25 on arrival at Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport. In December, U.S.

Embassy officials said Miss Fleener, who is not Jewish, was suspected of intending to photograph military installations in Israel. The indictment alleged she was to gather information in Israel and pass it to a member of an Arab guerrilla organization in Lebanon. Her mother, Mrs. Mary Boettcher of Enon, Ohio, and Dr.

Catherine Edwards, her former professor at the University of Texas in San Antonio, were present at the sentencing and testified as character witnesses during the trial. “She is idealistic, somewhat naive, impetuous, and fiercely loyal to her friends and principles,” said Dr. Edwards, trying to shed light on Miss Fleener’s motives.

“She was interested in the Middle East, and very well read. “She confessed in court ... but the sentence does not reflect what she actually did. She didn’t hurt anyone,” Dr. Edwards told The Associated Press. Mrs. Boettcher burst into tears after the sentence was read — first in Hebrew, then in English. She said her daughter stood stoically during the sentencing.

Miss Fleener was then taken, under armed guard, to Ramleh prison near Tel Aviv, where she changed her grey-and-white striped dress for prison blues. MISS FLEENER visited Israel once before, in 1976. It was not clear if the charges against her resulted from activities during that visit or from her actions outside Israel.

Under Israeli security laws, persons can be tried for offenses committed against Israel in other countries. According to her mother, Miss Fleener went to Lebanon in 1975 and spent 1½ years working as a stewardess for Kuwait Airlines, living in Kuwait and traveling throughout the Middle East. She quit that job in 1976, her mother said, and returned to her studies in Texas.

How this transcription was made

Full article transcribed from 5x crops of both columns. Nothing graphic to summarize. A sliver of a neighboring item intrudes at the left margin of the scan (fragments reading "k ad-", "urf at", "(photo)"); it belongs to another story and is excluded. The paper sets "1½" as a single fraction glyph. — Masthead folio line printed across the top of the clipping, read at 7x: "TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 1978 The Huntsville Times PAGE 3". The paper's name is set in blackletter. Matches Maria's label exactly, including the definite article. — The folio line reads TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 1978. January 10, 1978 was indeed a Tuesday. Matches Maria's label.

Cite this clipping

"U.S. Woman Starts Israel Prison Term," Huntsville Times, 10 January 1978, p. 3. Covering Palestine archive, CP-1978-026. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-1978-026