Zygier "suicide" now being reported as fact

Still shadowy: Zygier.

As the stories attached to "Prisoner X" - named as Ben Zygier, an Australian allegedly working for Israel's spy agency Mossad - continue to surface throughout the global media certain things become "fact", such as the suspicion that Zygier suicided while being detained in Ayalon Prison. In early stories doubt was cast over the way Zygier died but today suicide is being stated as a fact, although no comment has been received from Mossad or any other Israeli government agency. Some facts are beginning to surface, other things remain debatable.

One newspaper has stated as fact that Zygier was, as the time he died, under investigation by Australia's spy agency, ASIO. When confronted with such a suspicion by a Fairfax journalist, Zygier is reported to have been incredulous. It appears that ASIO was interested in Zygier because of suspicions that passports he held were being used by Israel in covert operations. Use of Australian passports in this manner is a crime in Australia.

In another story published this morning, Zygier is alleged to have been detained due to suspicion of treason. This story is paywalled.

After a heavy media blackout on the case, Army Radio, the official radio service of the Israeli Defence Forces, broadcast bulletins yesterday naming Zygier as the deceased prisoner and putting treason as a possible motive for his incarceration in solitary confinement.

Surprising amid all of this media scrutiny is the silence of Zygier's Melbourne family, which is prominent in the Jewish community. No media organisation has so far been able to extract new information from any of its members.

You wonder how Zygier's mother or father reacted, in 2010 when the death occurred, when they were informed of the death. Having secured assistance from the Australian government to repatriate Zygier's body, the family held a ceremony, one suspects, and buried the story along with the son. Did anyone in the family know that Zygier was involved with Mossad? Didn't they ask why he had been imprisoned? What did the Israeli government tell them about Zygier's death? What questions did they ask? How did they feel about their son dying in an Israeli prison?

As for the nature of the death, in early stories about Zygier attention was paid to the secure design of the cell in Ayalon Prison where Zygier had been incarcerated. A prison cell designed especially to house people accused of grave crimes would surely have presented a prisoner with a challenge if he or she wanted to commit suicide. But such questions are now being glossed over amid speculation about other things. Which is a shame because it appears to me essential to the case to ascertain beyond a doubt the truth about how Zygier died.