A Tel Aviv magistrate released Ghazi Shbeita from detention today after police admitted they could not produce evidence at this time to substantiate charges that the Israeli Arab was in contact with “hostile elements” while studying in Moscow on a fellowship three years ago.
Shbeita, a resident in Telbah village near Kfar Saba, is a member of the central committee of the pro-Moscow Rakah Communist party. He was arrested last Wednesday and last Thursday was remanded in custody for five days. His detention expired at noon today and the police were unable to convince the magistrate to remand the suspect for another 15 days. The magistrate offered the police one more day to submit material evidence but the police said they couldn’t produce any by tomorrow.
Rakah has charged that Shbeita’s arrest was a deliberate provocation intended to discredit the party in an election year. Shbeita’s home was searched and written material was confiscated by police.
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