Spy suspects make early morning exit

By BRIDGET CARTER

Two suspected Israeli spies left prison protected by the cover of early morning darkness yesterday.

Eli Cara and Uriel Kelman had completed three months of their six-month prison sentences for passport fraud.

They were driven away from Mt Eden Prison at high speed just after 5am.

By late afternoon, all that remained of their time in New Zealand was a $100,000 cheque given to the Cerebral Palsy Society in Auckland - a reparation order made by the High Court.

The pair were jailed in July after pleading guilty to fraudulently trying to obtain a passport in the name of a young cerebral palsy sufferer.

The guilty pleas came after a fast-tracked depositions hearing and extraordinary efforts by Kelman to avoid being photographed by the media after the story broke in April.

Kelman and Cara had claimed not to know each other or a third man, Zev Barkan, who is still wanted by police.

Yesterday the pair yet again thwarted media attempts to capture images of them. Two cars arrived at the prison gates. One waited while the other drove inside, then came out several minutes later with passengers, believed to include Cara and Kelman. The two cars then left the prison at speed.

It was understood that Kelman and Cara were booked on a Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong which left around midday. The men were then expected to fly on to Israel with police escorts.

At Auckland International Airport yesterday, lawyer Nigel Faigan, who had represented Cara, said he would not comment on Cara's departure.

A police officer at the airport told the Herald that his list of people being removed did not indicate that the men were supposed to be leaving yesterday.

The official date for the pair's release was tomorrow, but the Corrections Department policy is to release prisoners only on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.

The policy also says that prisoners are supposed to be released between 7am and 8pm unless arrangements had been made with police or courts, or unless there were special circumstances.

The Cerebral Palsy Society says about 80 children under the age of 5 will benefit from the $100,000 payment.

The cheque was received about 5pm, said director of services Anne Murphy.

The family of the man whose passport was used in the fraud had asked that the money be used towards services for children.

"If we can assist children with cerebral palsy early enough, life can change for them," Ms Murphy said.