Arutz-7\'s Ariel Kahane reports on a bill that passed its first reading in the Knesset yesterday - one designed to protect the \"good reputation\" of suspects in the early stages of the investigations against them. The bill allows judges to ban the publication of suspects’ names not only on grounds of preserving their safety, but also simply to protect their reputation. The bill, sponsored by MKs Rabbi Chaim Druckman (NRP), Yuri Stern (Yisrael Beiteinu), and Rabbi Shmuel Halpert (United Torah Judaism), comes in the wake of many cases in which a suspect whose name was released turned out to be innocent. A significant example was when an elderly couple from Herzliya was suspected of having made a prank phone call to the Knesset, which led to Knesset Speaker Burg mistakenly announcing the death of a Knesset Member. The couple\'s pictures were plastered over the newspapers for three days until it was ascertained that someone else had perpetrated the prank.
MK Rabbi Druckman explained today, \"The personal dignity of a person is greater than public’s right to know. If there is a need for a suspect\'s name to be publicized, the judge can do so - but if there is no such need, then what does it mean that the public has a \'right to know\'? Why should it know? The Torah forbids slander!\"
MK Rabbi Druckman explained today, \"The personal dignity of a person is greater than public’s right to know. If there is a need for a suspect\'s name to be publicized, the judge can do so - but if there is no such need, then what does it mean that the public has a \'right to know\'? Why should it know? The Torah forbids slander!\"