The trial in the case of the Duma arson suspects opens on Thursday, 28 Adar, in the Lod District Court. The court was to announce if the confessions of the suspects will be admissible, since according to defense attorneys the confessions were obtained by torturing the suspects, described as “special means” in Shin Bet documents.
The families of the suspects want the court to view the means used to extract the confessions as illegal, while the state wants the evidence to be used, explaining the law makes provisions for exceptional cases, and this should be classified as one, despite the family pointing out this is a most exceptional move. The state however continues to justify all actions due to the severity of the case and its circumstances. The families decry the fact that most of the evidence is secretive and classified and one cannot defend oneself under such circumstances.
When the trial begins, it will address the admissibility of the controversial evidence and then the final determination will be made.
Duma is a PA (Palestinian Authority) village, the site of an August 2015 arson attack that claimed the lives of members of the Darawshe family, including parents and an infant, leaving other injured.
A number of Jews were arrested in the case, which authorities attribute to Jewish terrorism.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
Torture, real, physical torture can be justified when it is know with certainty that there is a “ticking bomb” that will cost lives. The bomb maybe an actual bomb, an imminent attack or some other time sensitive disaster that could be prevented with the information the prisoner has.
That was NOT the case in the Duma affair.
The only time sensitive issue was the pathological need of the security establishment and their political backers to find a Jewish scapegoat for this act. It did not mater in the least that there was no factual or logical reason for this to have been done by Jews. Jews had to be blamed and proven guilty so as to justify the open campaign against Jews living in YESHAH.
This is also not the first use of torture against Jews to force them to confess to actions they have not done. In fact it has become standard procedure to use humiliation, physical abuse, threats against friends and family members in order to force confessions from Jews. None of this is a secret and stories and court cases occur on nearly a weekly basis.
All these actions are supported and encouraged by senior members of the Israeli government and they all must be held accountable for their actions and inactions. Furthermore, those who vote for these supporters of immoral torture of Jews are also guilty and will be eventually judged along with them when the final judgement is given.