QALQILIYA (Ma’an) -- A West Bank court on Tuesday sentenced a 24-year-old man from Azzun village near Qalqiliya to six years in jail after he was found guilty of treason.

The Qalqiliya court of first instance found the man was in contact with an Israeli employer in 2010 who secured him a permit to enter Israel.

The employer later emerged to be an Israeli intelligence officer who pressured the defendant to work for Israeli intelligence by threatening to reveal private photos of him, according to the court.

He was convicted under chapter 118 of the Penal Code (no. 16, 1960) and has the right to appeal, court officials said.

In January, a PA court sentenced a 25-year-old woman from Bethlehem to 10 years hard labor for treason, saying she started giving Israel information after she was detained by Israeli forces at Qalandiya checkpoint.