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Amir Makhoul says his confession was extracted under duressIsraeli prosecutors have charged two Israeli Arab activists with spying for Hezbollah, it has been revealed.</p>Amir Makhoul and Omar Abdo confessed they passed information about Israeli bases to the Lebanese militant and political group, the charges say.They sent information to their Lebanese contacts over the internet using sophisticated encryption programmes, prosecutors said.
Lawyers for the accused men say their confessions were made under duress.
The men were interrogated by Shin Bet, the Israeli secret service.
'Stress positions'The case had been subject to an Israeli court gagging order which has now been lifted.
Continue reading the main storyTrumped-up accusations made in indictments have become alarmingly common practice in security cases in Israel
Adalah statementIsraeli-Arabs suspected of spyingQ&A: Israeli ArabsThe charges say both men agreed to work for Hezbollah in 2008 when they were allegedly recruited by a Lebanese businessman living in Denmark.
According to the trial documents the men agreed to pass information about Shin Bet and Israeli Defense Forces installations in the north of the country, and give detailed information about damage done by Hezbollah rocket fire during the 2006 war with Israel.
But Adalah, the Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, which represents the men, says the charges are false.
They allege the interrogators used sleep deprivation and stress positions to extract confessions, which both men have now retracted.
"Trumped-up accusations made in indictments have become alarmingly common practice in security cases in Israel," a statement from the organisation said.
"They aim to justify the complete isolation and use of illegal methods of interrogation against detainees, and the imposition of gag orders on their cases."
A Shin Bet official was quoted by the Israeli media as saying the interrogation was done "in full accordance with the law".
Mr Makhoul is the director of Ittijah, the Union of Arab Community-Based Associations, the brother of a former Israeli-Arab member of Israel's Knesset, or parliament, and an outspoken critic of Israel's treatment of Palestinians and Israeli Arabs.
Mr Sayid is a member of the Israeli-Arab political party Balad.
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