Israel Matzav

Police reverse decision to prosecute alleged 'price tag' vandals

Police have decided not to prosecute three young men who were arrested after a burnt-out car was found in a village outside of Hebron (Aryeh Z).

The change of heart was “rare,” said attorneys with the Honenu legal rights group who are representing the three.

The young men were arrested over two weeks ago on suspicion of arson and vandalism, just hours after residents of Dahariya reported that a car had been burnt. Police said the suspects had been under observation for some time, and were suspected of involvement in other incidents of vandalism as well.

Several media outlets published the men’s names and pictures, along with pictures provided by police of the “suspicious items” found in their car at the time of the arrest: a toy gun, matches, a bottle of juice, a crowbar, gloves, a scarf, and several small stones.

A court hearing was held Tuesday in which police announced that the investigation had ended, and that enough evidence had been found to charge the suspects. A further hearing was set for Friday at which the suspects were to be indicted.

However, shortly before the planned hearing police told the suspects’ lawyers that they would not be seeking an indictment, but instead want to extend the men’s remand again and to continue the investigation.

Honenu attorneys noted that it is very unusual for police to backtrack on plans to indict suspects, but at the same time, to continue to detain them. If police find new evidence in a case, standard practice is to indict the suspect for the original charges and to add further charges at a later date, they explained.

Maybe they dropped it because they had no evidence? Nah, that can't be. 'Everyone knows' that 'settlers' are price tag vandals. 

A good LATMA skit for next week?

Labels: price tag attacks

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:23 PM