Following accusations by attorneys and relatives that the suspects in the Duma village arson case were tortured by Shabak interrogators, Deputy Attorney General Raz Nizri visited the Shabak facilities, met the detainees to review their physical and mental condition up close, and inquired about their interrogations.
As the Duma village arson murder investigation appears to be in its final stretch before indictments are submitted and the gag order on the case is removed, Israel’s Channel 2 News revealed Sunday night that an extraordinary meeting was held between the Deputy AG and the detainees, so the latter could verify the validity of detainees’ claims of being tortured by their interrogators in order to force confessions out of them.
Nizri, a graduate of Merkaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem, the most prominent religious-Zionist yeshiva in the world, has been walking the line between activist settlers and the state prosecution for at least a decade—since serving as assistant to the Attorney General Menachem Mazoz during the forced evacuation of the Jewish community of the Gaza Strip in 2005. In his current role, he oversees the prosecution’s criminal department, which will be deposited with the prosecution of the Duma arson.
According to the News 2 report, Nizri came to the Shabak facilities to determine the physical and mental condition of the detainees and to ask about their experiences during Shabak interrogations. The meeting took place following persistent claims, which, for the most part have not been denied by the Shabak, that severe violence had been used against the detainees in the interrogation rooms. The Shabak’s response was that they received authorization to treat the suspects as “ticking bombs,” which included applying physical pressure. Time and again, including in their official press release a week ago, the Shabak claimed that whatever they had done was being closely supervised by the legal system.
It appears that the Justice Ministry would like to avoid making the torture claims take center stage at the arson trial, which will likely include charges of murder for the death of three members of the dawabsheh family who perished as a result of the fire. Defense attorney Adi Keidar, representing some of the suspects, sought to torpedo that effort, telling Channel 2 about the Nizri visit: “This was a short inquiry, it’s doubtful he had enough time to find out what happened in the interrogation room.” Keidar demanded to freeze the legal proceedings until the conclusion of the torture inquiry. His task at this point is to focus public attention on the interrogation methods and the willingness of the courts to remand his clients without a hearing for a full three weeks—rather than let that part be settled and attention being diverted to what his clients will be accused of doing, which is quite terrifying.
It is estimated that murder by arson charges, as well as property damage and hate crimes will be brought against two or three suspects this week. The Shabak is hoping the charges will suffice to convince the public that the mass arrests and brutal interrogations were necessary under the circumstances. The prosecution is expected to boost its case with indictments in 10 additional cases of Jewish terrorism, and there’s the infamous wedding video, exposed a week ago by Channel 10. At least 30 suspects who participated in the wedding, who danced and waved knives and made stabbing motions and shocked the nation by just how ISIS-like they looked, were hauled in for questioning, and are being investigated on suspicion of incitement and on breaching various orders of restricted movement.
And so, two trial by media campaigns will be competing for our attention starting later this week, one, the government’s, depicting bloodthirsty religious zealots; the other, run by the defense, protesting the heartless tactics of a secret police gone wild. Get out your handkerchiefs.