A former Israeli minister went on trial Thursday on charges of spying for arch-foe Iran in a case which has been kept under tight wraps on security grounds.

Gonen Segev, who served as energy and infrastructure minister from 1995 to 1996, is charged with “espionage against the state of Israel, assisting the enemy in time of war and passing information with the intention of harming state security.”

Journalists were excluded from the hearing, which was held behind closed doors, an AFP correspondent reported. Most of the detailed charge sheet has been redacted in its published version.

Segev’s defense lawyers have complained that most details of the charges were under a state-imposed blackout and the little which had been released gave a misleading impression.

Segev is accused of providing Iran with “information related to the energy market, security sites in Israel, buildings and officials in political and security bodies, and more” while he was living in Nigeria between 2012 and his arrest at Ben Gurion airport in May this year. He is accused of travelling to Iran to meet his minders.

Source: AFP