Malaysia jails Israeli for seven years on firearms offences
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Avitan Shalom claimed to be in Malaysia to hunt down another Israeli citizen over a family dispute.
PHOTO: BERNAMA
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KUALA LUMPUR – A Malaysian court sentenced an Israeli man to seven years in prison on Feb 26 after he pleaded guilty to carrying six guns and dozens of bullets, his lawyer said.
Shalom Avitan, 39, was arrested in March 2024 at a hotel in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, and later charged with unauthorised trafficking and possession of firearms, while a married Malaysian couple were charged with supplying the weapons to him.
The authorities said Avitan claimed to be in Malaysia to hunt down another Israeli citizen
The two countries do not have diplomatic relations, and police investigated his motives and the possibility that he was part of an Israeli crime ring or a spy.
Avitan arrived from the United Arab Emirates on March 12, 2024, travelling on a French passport, officials said.
He was detained by police at a Kuala Lumpur hotel with the bag of weapons on March 27 and produced an Israeli passport when questioned, they added.
On Feb 26, the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court accepted Avitan’s guilty plea and ordered his seven-year sentence to run from the date of his arrest on March 28, 2024, his lawyer, Datuk Naran Singh, told Reuters.
Avitan will serve his sentence in Kajang Prison on the outskirts of the capital, the lawyer added. REUTERS
