Career
He is most famous for his role in the case of Mordechai Vanunu, Israeli nuclear technician who revealed Israel"s secret nuclear bomb programme. Hounam"s interview with Vanunu appeared in the Sunday Times in 1986. In April 2004, Hounam traveled to Israel for Vanunu"s release from prison on 21 April 2004.
Vanunu had spent 18 years in Israeli jails, following his abduction from England (via Italy) by the Mossad in 1986.
At 9.30pm on 26 May 2004, while working on a British Broadcasting Corporation documentary about Vanunu, Hounam was taken from his hotel in Jerusalem by five plainclothes Shin Bet officers, reportedly for having contact with Vanunu, who is not allowed to see journalists without special permission. Before being taken, Hounam was able to inform an Amnesty International activist of his arrest, but did not get access to a lawyer
On 27 May 2004, the Jerusalem district court imposed a gag order, preventing further details of the arrest from becoming known. Hounam was scheduled to make a court appearance, as the security services request permission from the courts to continue holding him.
Reportedly, on 22 May 2004, Vanunu was secretly interviewed for The Sunday Times, by Yael Lotan, an Israeli journalist.
Her two-hour interview was videotaped by an Israeli television crew. Hounam apparently knew of the interview, and was planning to use portions of it in his documentary. He had been on his way to meet Lotan when he was arrested.
Speaking from the family"s home in the Scottish town of Aberfeldy she said: "Peter has been absolutely scrupulous in following the letter of the regulations.
Hounam was detained for a day, during which the case attracted intense media coverage, and after which he was released without charge. Israel"s Attorney-General reportedly ordered his release, after consulting with the heads of the security services, to lower the profile of the case.
Hounam returned to the United Kingdom on 28 May 2004, and the British Broadcasting Corporation announced it would broadcast the Vanunu interview the following Sunday.
