Aftermath of mosque fire
Aftermath of mosque fireIsrael news photo: Panet.co.il

 

For the third time in less than a month, a court has ordered police to release a suspect in the October 3 arson of a mosque in northern Israel.

The Petach Tikva Magistrates' Court ordered the suspect sent to house arrest for five days before he is completely free. Police wanted to keep him in jail.

Police also asked to remand another suspect to ten days' incarceration. The court rejected this demand and extended his remand by only two days.

The suspect was arrested Monday in Yitzhar. He denies involvement in the Tuba arson and told Attorney Adi Kedar of the NGO Honenu that his questioners did not present any evidence to him that ties him to the crime being investigated.

Honenu, which assists Jewish nationalist suspects and prisoners, issued a statement in which it asked the police "to do some introspection and look into the circumstances surrounding these surreal arrests."

Neighbors of the Bedouin Arab village doubt that a Jew set fire to its mosque and describe it as a viper's nest of criminal activity.