Shabak, Israel’s Internal Security Agency,was Forced to Release Perlman After 31 Days of Torture.
Chaim with his wife Keren and 3 children.
Chaim Perlman, age 30, arrested on July 14, ’10, claimed that police abused him, humiliated him and kept him handcuffed for 18 hours a day during his 31 days under Shabak interrogation. He said that three thugs would beat him up periodically. The Shabak was forced to release him from jail to house arrest after Judge Nachum Sternlicht said: “I haven’t seen any substantial evidence that could serve to convict Pearlman.”
Honenu lawyers still needed to deal with further Shabak shenanigans. Perlman was brought for an identification line up. Surprisingly, an Arab was found who singled out Perlman 12 years after the supposed crime. Honenu lawyers were not allowed to be present for the identification procedure. Shabak appealed Perlman’s prison release, but lost in court.
Perlman, who was once hired by the Shabak to provide information enraged his handlers by releasing 20 hours of taped conversations to the public showing how the Shabak incited him to commit crimes against Arabs. Perlman is being charged with a 1998 killing of two Arabs. He denied all the allegations and said in an interview recorded two days before his arrest, and aired on Channel 2, that he was being framed. Perlman claimed the Shabak was taking revenge on him because he taped their conversations.
From the beginning, his lawyer claimed that the Shabak had no evidence linking the crime to Perlman. In order to save face, the Shabak needed to obtain a confession. Many times in Israel a confession is proof of guilt, even if there is no evidence corroborating the confession and even if the evidence contradicts the confession. The Shabak early on denied Perlman a basic right, a meeting with his lawyer. It was 10 days after his arrest that Perlman was finally able to meet with his Honenu lawyer due to Honenu intervention and a ruling of Justice Edmond Levy.
Even Haaretz, a far left wing newspaper has recently screamed foul play regarding this abuse of justice. Unfortunately , besides Honenu, no civil or legal rights organization has come out against the cruel punishment Perlman underwent. Perlman remained silent during the 31 days of interrogation. After his release, Chaim made a sign, ” In the merit of Honenu I was released” and displayed it before the thousand visitors that arrived to celebrate Sukkoth in Hebron.