An angry controversy has developed over whether the police should have made public the identity of the man they call the prime suspect in last year’s grenode murder of Peace Now activist Emil Grunzweig before he is formally charged.
Attomey General Yitzhak Zamir was sharply critical of the police for holding a live broadcast press conference last Friday at which they claimed to have evidence that Yona Avrushmi is the man who threw the fatal grenade that killed Grunzweig and wounded 10 others on February 10, 1983. Avrushmi, a 28-year-old resident of Ofra on the West Bank, was arrested last week but not charged.
Deputy inspector General of Police Yehezkel Carty, head of the Criminal Investigation Division (CID), told Israel Radio that the police decided to hold the press conference because of the widespread public interest in the case. There had been growing demands that the police investigating team be replaced because of its lack of results to date.
According to Carty, the media would have learned the suspect’s identity in any event and it was preferable that the arrest be announced by the police. The press conference was presided over by Interior Minister Yosef Burg.
COMPLAINT OF WIDESPREAD PUBLICITY
But the Civl Liberties Union and a number of prominent lawyers have complained that the widespread publicity may compromise a fair trial for Avrushmi. Zamir however, did not question the legality of the press conference, only its propriety. Former Supreme Court Justice Haim Cohen agreed that no legal principles were violated but said the publicity was “unwise and premature.”
Avrushmi’s lawyer, Ephrain Efroni, has appealed to the Supreme Court to order the police to allow him to visit his client before he is charged. A three judge panel is expected to rule on the appeal later today.
According to Efroni, his client has complained of police brutality during interrogation. He said he was made to sit on a hot stove and then taken out of doors into the cold. He was also not allowed to change his clothes until he soiled himself and was not given a mattress or allowed to lie down, the lawyer said.
The police claim to have a tape recorded conversation in which Avrushmi confessed to an undercover agent that he had thrown the grenade. But Maariv today quoted Avrushmi’s former wife as saying he ws with her at the time and both had watched the television report of the grenade throwing minutes after it occurred. The Civil Liberties Union said this sort of conflicting evidence was for the courts to hear, not for the public before trial.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
