The Supreme Court rebuked the police today for allegedly leaking information to the media about the investigation of suspects in the attempted sabotage of Arab-owned buses in East Jerusalem last month.
A total news blackout has been imposed by the courts, pending completion of the investigation. Twenty-five suspects are in custody and under interrogation. The high court ruled today that those who have been detained for seven or more days may contact their lawyers now and the others will be allowed to consult with counsel beginning Thursday.
The court, which ruled on an appeal by the family of one of the detainees, stipulated that a security agent must be present at the meetings between lawyers and suspects.
One justice remarked, “There appear to be two bodies investigating this matter — the police and another organization (a reference to the Shin Bet, Israel’s secret service) — and the police appear to be talking to the press.”
MEDIA REPORTS AND SPECULATIONS
When the first suspects were rounded up after the sabotage attempt was uncovered and foiled by security forces on April 27, little information was released to the media apart from the fact that the suspects may belong to an organized Jewish underground based on the West Bank. The identities of the suspects were withheld, in accordance with the law.
The media reported subsequently that most of the men being held were residents of the West Bank and Golan Heights, that they were linked to the Gush Emunim and include army officers. According to some press reports, several of the suspects confessed to earlier attacks on Arab civilians and re-enacted those crimes for the police and also disclosed plans for future attacks.
Other media reports claimed that the police were acting on inside information when they discovered time-bombs planted in six Arab-owned buses. Some newspapers said the informant was a security agent who infiltrated the ring; others said he was a member of the underground who turned informer.
There has been no official confirmation of any of these reports which the Supreme Court says stemmed from leaks from the police.
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