The Norwegian Supreme Court today rejected an appeal for the release of two Israelis jailed here in connection with the July murder of a Moroccan citizen. In overruling a lower Appeals Court decision, the Supreme Court stated that police officials had not violated international law by gaining entrance to the Oslo home of an Israeli diplomat to arrest the two men, Michael Dorff and Zvi Steinberg. They were apprehended in the apartment of the Israeli “security” officer Yigal Eyal shortly after the July 21 slaying of alleged Black September terrorist Ahmed Boushicki.
A Norwegian Appeals Court had ruled earlier that police violated the Vienna Convention on diplomatic immunity by entering Eyal’s home to make the arrests. The Supreme Court stated in its ruling that the Vienna Convention does not prevent police officials from entering diplomatically-protected territory to arrest persons who themselves are not entitled to diplomatic immunity. The Supreme Court did not consider in detail the circumstances surrounding the arrests but ruled that “there is no indication that police officials acted in violation of international law.”
Dorff and Steinberg are widely believed to be members of an official Israeli intelligence group. They have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder and with spying on aliens in Norway. The two are expected to come to trial the end of Oct. Leading Norwegian criminal lawyers and international law experts were unwilling to comment on the Supreme Court’s decision. Eyal left Norway after being declared persona non grata for harboring the murder suspects.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
