Jewish terror suspect Haim Pearlman has been released from prison Wednesday and ordered to stay under house arrest at his parents’ home in the West Bank community of Tekoa.

The Petach Tikva Magistrate’s Court dismissed the police’s and Shin Bet’s request to keep Pearlman in prison and questioned the evidence available against him.

However, the court accepted the police’s request to postpone Pearlman’s release until a district court appeals the decision.

Pearlman is suspected of murdering four Arabs and attempting to kill another seven. However, investigators dealing with the high-profile case have encountered difficulties in establishing the charges against him.

In Wednesday’s hearing, Judge Nachum Sternlicht said a lineup used to identify Pearlman was problematic because the suspect’s photos were published beforehand, thereby failing to constitute positive identification. The court added that another suspect, facing no less grave offences, had not been detained, thereby constituting discrimination against Pearlman.

In his ruling, the judge said, “The severity of the allegations attributed to the suspect must be stressed. The evidence that was gathered led to his arrest, but it was not enough in order to file an indictment, and therefore an open investigation was launched. It does not appear that during this investigation sufficient evidence was gathered to file an indictment and prove guilt.”

Pearlman’s attorney Adi Keidar claimed that his client had been tortured by the Shin Bet during his interrogation. A complaint on the matter was filed with the Police Investigations Unit and copies were sent to the attorney general and state prosecutor.

(Source: Ynet)