Attorney Rachel Avishar Elves, Central District Attorney
Attorney Rachel Avishar Elves, Central District AttorneyYoni Kempinski

The Central District Court on Tuesday dismissed all the confessions obtained through torture from Amiram Ben Uliel, the main defendant in the Duma village murder case.

However, Ben Uliel's other confessions were confirmed and remained valid. The confession given by Ben Uliel during the reconstruction is also admissible and the trial against him will continue.

Most of the confessions of the minor accused of involvement in the murder were disqualified, apart from what he said to the informer to whom a general statement about the story. However, the trial against him will also continue, since the confessions collected from Ben Uriel also incriminate him. His defense attorneys hope that following the decision of the court, the minor will soon be released to house arrest.

It should be noted that due to a order, it is not possible to specify the kinds of torture, referred to as "special means", that were used during Shin Bet interrogations.

Attorney Adi Keidar of the Honenu organization, who represented the minor, said, "This is a fatal blow that the court directed at the Shin Bet and the State Prosecutor's Office, but beyond that the important thing is the ruling that rejects the statements of the minor during the period in which he answered his interrogators."

Attorney Zion Amir said that "the decision to disqualify the defendant's confession is greeted with joy mixed with sadness. It took two and a half years to reach a decision that in our opinion was self-evident in the first place. The significance of the decision is very dramatic in the Israeli legal world, according to which the investigative bodies, whether the police force or the Shin Bet security service, must take measures according to the law and not use improper means. We congratulate the court for its courage."

"It is clear that the Shin Bet caused physical pain and suffering to the interrogee in order to make him confess: A legal system that respects human dignity can not accept the confessions obtained as a result of intentional physical suffering as evidence," attorney Yitzhak Bam, one of Ben Uliel's attorneys, said in response to the decision. "The fear of continued torture was the only reason that the interrogee continued to confess between the rounds of torture."

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