The Justice Ministry has released a statement regarding the case of ‘Prisoner X’, or ‘John Doe’ as he is referred to by state ministries. This refers to the case of the Australian national who reportedly worked for the Mossad, who was found hanged in his solitary confinement cell in December 2010.

Respondent: “John Doe”

By way of Attorney Roi Belcher and/or Attorney Moshe Mazur and Attorney Boaz Ben-Tzur

Second Agreed-Upon Request to Reduce Scope of Gag Order

A request is hereby submitted to reduce the scope of the gag order that was issued on 4 March 2010 by Presiding Judge Hila Gerstel. This is at the request of the petitioner and with the consent of the representative of the respondent, such that the following details be permitted for publication:

1. In the context of this affair, Presiding Judge Hila Gerstel issued several gag orders that were detailed in the petitioner’s request, which was heard and decided on 13 February 2013.

2. Similarly, in the framework of a coroner’s inquest into causes of death (hereinafter: “coroner’s inquest”), Hon. Presiding Judge Dafna Blatman-Kadrei, on 16 December 2010, issued a gag order on the proceedings of the aforesaid coroner’s inquest, for a period of 90 days, which has been periodically extended (attached to this Request).

3. On 19 December 2012, in the framework of a hearing in which it was decided to end the proceedings of the aforesaid coroner’s inquest, Hon. Presiding Judge Dafna Blatman-Kadrei ordered that the gag order on the coroner’s inquest on this matter be extended for 180 days (attached to this Request).

4. Following consideration of the overall interests involved, regarding both the interests of security and the public’s right to know, and in light of the media reports from the last few hours, the petitioner requests permission to publish the following:

The Prison Service detained a prisoner who held both Israeli and foreign citizenship. For security reasons, the prisoner was held under an alias; however, his family was immediately notified of his detention and he was represented, in all proceedings in his regard, by attorneys Roi Belcher, Moshe Mazur and Boaz Ben-Tzur. The prisoner was held in prison pursuant to an arrest warrant that had been issued by the authorized court. Proceedings regarding the prisoner were overseen by the most senior Justice Ministry officials and the prisoner’s individual rights were maintained, according to law.

The prisoner was found dead in his cell approximately two years ago. Subsequently, Hon. Judge Dafna Blatman-Kadrei, President of the Rishon Lezion Magistrates Court, held a coroner’s inquest into the cause of death, in accordance with the 1958 Coroner’s Inquest into Causes of Death Law. An order was issued that the hearing be held behind closed doors. This order is still in force.

Pursuant to her broad inquest, approximately one-and-a-half months ago, a decision was issued regarding the coroner’s inquest into the cause of death, from which it arises that this was suicide. However, the Presiding Judge sent the file to the State Attorney’s Office for an evaluation regarding issues of negligence.

In all proceedings conducted on the matter, including the coroner’s inquest into the cause of death, the deceased and his family were represented by the aforementioned attorneys.

Beyond this, additional details about the affair may not be published, for reasons of state security. These security issues were examined by the Central District Court which decided to issue a sweeping gag order on the affair. This order was issued at the request of the security authorities, which was approved by the relevant Justice Ministry officials.

An appeal to the Supreme Court against this order by the Association for Civil Rights has been withdrawn by the Association pursuant to the recommendation of the Supreme Court.

5. Regarding the aforesaid gag orders, permission is hereby requested from the Court for publication of that stated in paragraph 4 above and to order that beyond this the standing gag orders remain in force.

6. The representatives of the respondent gave their full consent to this request and to its publication.

13 February 2013

Orli Ben-Ari Ginsburg, Attorney

Deputy Attorney for the Central District

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)