The following statement was released to the media on Wednesday, November 9, 2011 by Honenu following the release of suspects accused of ‘price tag’ attacks.

“The Attorney General’s office is embarrassing itself by not losing honorably. The unequivocal decision of the Jerusalem Magistrate Court, which unconditionally released the three youths against whom a charge sheet was filed on suspicion of plotting a ‘price tag’ incident, hasn’t filtered down to the police and the Attorney General’s office.

“After the release of the three youths the Attorney General’s office appealed to the district court in a demand to order a remand for them until the end of proceedings against them.

“The deliberation finished a short time ago and Judge Nava Ben-Or rejected the appeal out of hand as she leveled sharp criticism at the conduct of the police in the case. The judge even hinted that there is slight chance of a conviction in the case.

“Honenu notes that at the beginning of the deliberation the judge suggested that representative from the Attorney General’s office withdraw the request for the appeal, however the Jerusalem District Attorney ordered that the deliberation take place despite the court’s suggestion. At the end of the deliberation the pleas of the Attorney General’s office were rejected out of hand.

“We reiterate that the three youths were arrested by the National Unit of Serious and International Crime Investigations after they had been arrested and released several times. At the deliberation which took place on Monday at the request of the police to extend their remand until the end of proceedings, Eta Leibowitz, the mother of one of the detainees, whose son Elazar was murdered in a terror attack and his murderers were released in the Shalit Deal, spoke.

“Leibowitz berated the court saying that it is a mendacious court and the decisions written by it are not worth the time spent on the deliberations. ‘Where are my son’s murderers who received a life sentence?’ asked Leibowitz. ‘Five hundred murderers to whom the court sentence gave life sentences are walking free and they want to arrest my son and harm his freedom.’

“Honenu attorney David HaLevi, who represented the three, said in response to the decision of the district court that, ‘It is very unfortunate that the message in the magistrate court’s decision was not received by the prosecuting authorities, and there was a need for another decision by the district court. From the start I claimed that it was inappropriate to attempt to arrest my clients again after they had been interrogated and released several times, when nothing had changed in their case.

‘The decisions of the magistrate and district courts on this matter, particularly the fact that my clients were unconditionally released, speak for themselves. The district court even ruled that our claims with regard to the quality of the evidence did not escape them. I have no doubt that the aforementioned charge sheet will fade away, being as it is completely based on assumptions and not on evidence.’”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)