Attorney General Yosef Harish is expected to instruct the police Friday to open an investigation into whether agents of the Shin Bet presented false evidence to a military court which convicted former Israel Defense Force officer Izat Nafsu of treason and espionage in 1981.
The conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court last Sunday and Nafsu was released from prison where he had served early seven years of an 18-year sentence. The court, in its ruling, affirmed Nafsu’s charges that he was convicted on evidence fabricated by the Shin Bet and that his confession was extracted by illegal means.
Harish’s decision to order a police investigation runs counter to the wishes of Premier Yitzhak Shamir who prefers a government inquiry. Last Friday Shamir named former State Comptroller Yitzhak Tunik and former Mossad chief Zvi Zamir to comprise a commission of inquiry into the operational methods of Shin Bet and make recommendations.
MK Mordechai Virshubsky of the Shinui Party said Thursday that a governmental inquiry would deal only in generalities and not blame individuals for misconduct. He said on a television interview that he would file a complaint with the police against Yossi Ginossar, the Shin Bet operative named in Nafsu’s complaint.
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