Malaysia charges alleged Israeli mobster Shalom Avitan with arms trafficking
An Israeli national caught with a cache of semi-automatic weapons faces decades in jail and six lashes if found guilty of arms trafficking and illegal possession of firearms, after he was charged on Friday by Malaysian prosecutors two weeks following his arrest at an upscale hotel in Kuala Lumpur.
Shalom Avitan, 38, was arrested on March 27, in a case that triggered wild speculation in Malaysia that he could be a spy with Israel's Mossad intelligence agency.
A handcuffed Avitan - clad in a black T-shirt, cargo pants and a black disposable mask - was brought into the Kuala Lumpur court complex surrounded by a team of heavily-armed police officers.
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Prosecutors accuse Avitan of arms trafficking after he was found with six semi-automatic handguns in his room at the Four Seasons Hotel.
"Any person trafficking in firearms shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of not less than thirty years ... and with whipping with not less than six strokes," according to Avitan's charge sheet.
The Israeli national also faces a separate charge for illegally possessing 158 bullets, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years in jail.
Avitan pleaded not guilty to both charges. Bail was refused.
This is the first time an Israeli national has been charged in a Malaysian court. Malaysia does not recognise Israel diplomatically and is the most outspoken supporter of the Palestinian cause in Southeast Asia.
Avitan had reportedly entered Malaysia via the United Arab Emirates on a valid French passport on March 12 and was issued a tourist visa and then moved between four hotels in the country's capital city.
Israeli media had identified Avitan as a mobster associated with the Israel-based Musli crime family.
During interrogation, he produced a separate Israeli passport and had told police that he was on the hunt for the leader of a rival gang who had purportedly taken up residence in Malaysia.
Police had said that they believe Avitan had secured the weapons locally and paid for them using cryptocurrency.
Prosecutors on Tuesday charged a Malaysian couple believed to have sold the firearms to Avitan.
Sharifah Faraha Syed Husin, 41, was charged with possession of a pistol while her husband, Abdul Azim Mohd Yasin, 43, was charged with complicity in his wife's activities.
The couple face up to 14 years in jail and Abdul Azim could face an additional penalty of no less than six strokes of the cane, if found guilty.
Police had said they have so far arrested a total of 16 individuals in raids across three states in connection with Avitan's case, including two Turkish men - one of whom held Polish and American passports - and a Georgian national.
Malaysia has been a leading voice against Israel's ongoing assault on Gaza which has so far killed more than 33,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the enclave's Hamas-run health ministry.
Mossad has been accused of being involved in at least two incidents in Malaysia targeting Palestinian nationals.
In 2018, the Israeli intelligence agency was accused of dispatching two operatives to kill purported Hamas member Fadi al-Batsh, a Palestinian engineer and academic who was gunned down outside his home on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.
Israel denied the claim. The two attackers were believed to have left the country shortly after the hit.
In 2022, Malaysia charged 13 individuals with kidnapping a Palestinian man, allegedly to secure software information to hack mobile phones. Malaysian authorities did not discount a possible Mossad involvement.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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