11:44: Officials of the ISA (Israel Security Agency – Shin Bet) a short time ago announced the arrests of a number of Jewish suspects in connection with the fatal arson attack against the home of the Darawshe family in July 2015 in the Shechem area PA (Palestinian Authority) village of Duma.

As a result of the attack, the father of the family, Saeed, 31, and a 1-year-old son were killed. The mother, Riham, was badly burned and later died in a hospital. Another child, Ahmed, was seriously burned. The media release by the ISA explains there was concrete evidence against the suspects, whose identities are blocked by a gag order along with details of the ongoing investigation. The ISA explains the investigation is being conducted in cooperation with police and the prosecutor’s office.

Attorney Itamar Ben-Givir, who is representing one of the defendants told the press the police and ISA are significantly compromising the basic rights of his client. “Little by little we are becoming like Argentina. I am not permitted to meet with him or see him, and he is not brought to court for hearings. He is held in an ISA basement after they learned he was beaten during incarceration. This is not the way to run a democratic country”.

Another defense attorney, Chai Haber adds “After eight days of incarceration during which my client was not permitted to meet with his attorney or members of his family, or any judge, the tzibur must know that in a country that claims to be democratic, one can actually disappear without anyone being able to probe what occurred. It is my belief that as the picture becomes increasingly clear it will be possible to understand the message of the investigating authorities on progress in the investigation in fact lack a basis in reality”.

Yet another defense attorney, Adi Kedar adds “We cannot relate to substantive allegations and evidence that may or may not be against our clients. What can be said clearly and accurately is that during the past week the State of Israel via the heads of law enforcement agencies including the ISA, police, State Prosecutor and the courts joined forces and during this week and the law and basic human rights of my client have been grossly violated — all in the name of permitting the investigation to continue. Once the gag order is fully lifted, no matter what the outcome of the investigation, the image that the public will see is a very disturbing one regarding law enforcement and our judicial system”.

All the attorneys are from the Honenu organization.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)