Police requested remand extension, court immediately released detainees

Tuesday, November 1, 2011, 16:03 It seems that the National Unit of Serious and International Crime Investigations has lost its senses. A short time ago the court released the two detainees suspected of involvement with the Bayt Fajr mosque arson over one year ago, despite a police request to extend their remand by ten days.
Investigators from the National Unit of Serious and International Crime Investigations brought to the Petah Tikva Magistrate Court the two detainees who were detained this morning on suspicion of involvement with the mosque arson in the village of Bayt Fajr over one year ago. The investigators requested that the court extend the remand of the two detainees by ten days.
However during the deliberation it turned out that there is nothing in the investigative file. The two were investigated and denied all charges. According to them the investigators from the National Unit of Serious and International Crime Investigations did not present them with even one piece of evidence linking them to the act.
The judge agreed with Honenu Attorney Adi Keidar, who represented the two detainees, and immediately released them, as she ruled that there is no evidence in the case and that there has been no development in the investigation of the incident for a long time. Accordingly the judge ruled that there is no chance of them interfering with investigative proceedings or constituting a danger to the public.
Amazingly the judge ruled that each of the detainees would be required to post a 12,000 NIS bond, an exceptional step which appears to have been taken in order to satisfy the police, whose shortcomings have been revealed.
The police requested a delay in carrying out the decision in order to appeal. The court agreed and tomorrow the two detainees will be brought to the Petah Tikva District Court for a deliberation. Honenu announced that they will also appeal the decision, being as there is no reason for a bond in this instance.
It should be noted that one of the detainees has already been investigated in the past on suspicion of involvement with the incident and was released after no evidence implicating him was found.
Honenu Attorney Adi Keidar, who is representing the two detainees, responded to the decision and said that, “The court is leveling criticism being as this is an old investigation and ruled that there was no reason to detain the suspects after such a long time and in the absence of evidence in the case.”
Honenu reports that, “Our hypotheses were verified. It turned out that also in this instance, as with the detentions in the Tuba-Zangria saga, and in additional incidents, the detentions are revealed to be baseless. Is is sad to see innocent people sitting in remand due to the overactive imagination of the police and the GSS.”
Sources close to the detainee reported that, “The GSS and the National Unit of Serious and International Crime Investigations are reaching lows that have not been seen since the Perlman saga. We ask the Internal Security Minister and the Prime Minister to ‘clean the stables’ of the GSS and the police. Unfortunately we are concerned that the desire of the new staff investigating ‘price tag’ incidents to present results is driving the police and GSS investigators crazy.”
Also at the Petah Tikva Magistrate Court this morning one of the suspects in the Tuba-Zangria mosque arson case was released. The court rejected the police request to extend his remand and ruled that he would remain under house arrest for five days. The remand of the Shomron resident who was detained yesterday on suspicion of involvement with the Tuba-Zangria incident was extended by two days after the court did not accept the demand of the police to extend his remand by ten days.