Honenu reports that the last of the “arrestees” in the Tuba el-Zangaria mosque arson saga has been released by court order.

The “arrestee” is the vehicle belonging to a Yitzhar resident (married and father of four), who was arrested on suspicion of involvement with the mosque arson in northern Israel.

Two weeks ago on Thursday a deliberation took place at the Petah Tikvah Magistrate Court on the request filed by Honenu attorney Adi Kedar to release the vehicle. Judge Oshrit Rotkopf ordered the vehicle to be returned to its owner, despite the demand of the police to keep it in their hands for further investigation. The judge ruled that the owners may not sell or make changes to the vehicle for a period of 60 days, in order to allow the police to continue to investigate it, in the event that there is a development in the investigation.

On Monday of this week the vehicle was released from the car lot in Chatzor HaGlilit to its owner.

To reiterate, approximately four months ago a mosque was set on fire in Tuba el-Zangaria, a town in northern Israel. On the same night a suspect in the arson case was arrested at the Ariel Junction in the Shomron. The vehicle that he was driving was confiscated. Later, three more suspects were arrested, one of them the owner of the vehicle. All of the suspects were released after no connection was found between them and the incident. However, the vehicle remained in the hands of the National Unit of Serious and International Crime Investigations.

The police, who requested to keep the vehicle in custody for 180 days, as the law allows, relied on confidential reports that were filed with the court during three deliberations held during the past two months.

Following a petition filed by Honenu attorney Adi Kedar, an additional deliberation took place last week in which the judge decided that there was insufficient material in the aforementioned reports to justify keeping the vehicle in police custody.

It should be noted that recently the media has publicized that among the residents of Tuba el-Zangaria there are increasing suspicion that the mosque was burned by elements within the town.

In response to the release of the vehicle, Honenu attorney Adi Kedar said that, “On one hand we are pleased about the return of the vehicle, which signifies the closing of the saga. On the other hand, the focus of the police on only the Jewish sector is an outrage. In the end it becomes clear that this was not a “price tag” incident, especially in light of the most recent news from Tuba el-Zangaria.

Shmuel Medad, the chairman of Honenu, also responded to the release of the vehicle and said that, “Too many investigations of this type are opened and closed in this manner, with numerous false arrests and the culprit not apprehended. It is strange that no-one in the system bothers to admit that and apologize.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)