Seven Iraqi nationals who fled to Israel to escape the regime of Saddam Hussein will be awarded NIS 2.7 million from the state.

In the early 1990s, the seven fled to Israel seeking political asylum. They were incarcerated. In the petition filed on their behalf by attorney Tzvi Rish, they were held in prison for periods of one to three years, released and deported. They have since found asylum in other countries.

In her ruling handed down this week, Tel Aviv District Court Justice Ruth Ronen wrote the state will make a NIS 2.7 million compensatory payment to the seven. She explained there was no legal basis for holding them in prison for longer than six months.

Justice Ronen explained the state had every right to arrest, detain and question the infiltrators from an enemy nation, but after six months, it was established they do not pose a threat and they should have been released until such time they were deported.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)