(JTA) — A former director of Israel’s Shin Bet security service left Denmark early after being accused of torture in a Danish police complaint filed by a pro-Palestinian group.
Carmi Gillon departed Denmark on Saturday without attending the Copenhagen Film Festival for a showing of the documentary “The Gatekeepers” or delivering a scheduled lecture. Gillon is one of six former Shin Bet heads to be interviewed for the documentary.
Gillon, who headed the Shin Bet in the mid-1990s, first said he would remain in the country, according to the Danish daily Kristeligt-Dagblad, but decided not to take any chances and left before his appearance.
He told the newspaper that he was “shocked” by the complaint by two Dutch anti-torture groups as well as Theodore Sorensen, Denmark’s former representative to the U.N. Committee against Torture. Gillon called the accusations “old.”
The Danish prosecutor’s office rejected the complaint, citing a lack of evidence of Gillon’s involvement in torture, Haaretz reported.
“The Gatekeepers,” which was nominated for an Academy Award, presents interviews with the former Shin Bet leaders and records their perceptions of how successive Israeli governments missed opportunities for peace.
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