"Innocent!" This was the verdict handed down this afternoon regarding Yosef Ben-Baruch, who has spent no fewer than 19 months in prison. He will be released today or tomorrow, and has already announced that he is planning a civil suit for the wrongful imprisonment.
Ben-Baruch, who was married in prison this past July, was arrested in May 2002 in connection with a bombing conspiracy against an Arab school. He consistently denied any wrongdoing, and in fact his lawyer Tzion Amir said last month, "The evidence against him is very weak, and all the testimony that has been heard simply strengthened the defense's line." The plot, known as the Bat Ayin case in which three others have been convicted, involved a plan to blow up a cart-bomb outside an Arab school in eastern Jerusalem.
An update on Noam Federman: A Jerusalem District Court judge, as expected, has approved his continued incarceration. Federman was brought before the judge on Sunday, the halfway mark of his six-month administrative detention, for an all-but routine review of the orders. He has not been accused of any crime, and is not allowed to know the nature of the charges, if any, against him. Federman's wife Elisheva has said that this is the Shabak's way of "punishing him" for having circulated a pamphlet explaining how to handle Shabak (General Security Service) interrogation sessions.
The matter of Federman's conditions in prison - no walks in the yard, visits of only a half-hour every two weeks with his family, phone calls only to his immediate family - arose in the court session. Surprisingly, the Shabak officials said that they did not insist on these measures, and the ball is now back in the Israel Prison Service court. Elisheva is hoping that the changes will be made by today or tomorrow, but is showing no complacency. In the meantime, efforts continue to have him released outright. Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz, who signed the administrative detention order and can rescind it, can be faxed at: (+972-3)-6976218.
Ben-Baruch, who was married in prison this past July, was arrested in May 2002 in connection with a bombing conspiracy against an Arab school. He consistently denied any wrongdoing, and in fact his lawyer Tzion Amir said last month, "The evidence against him is very weak, and all the testimony that has been heard simply strengthened the defense's line." The plot, known as the Bat Ayin case in which three others have been convicted, involved a plan to blow up a cart-bomb outside an Arab school in eastern Jerusalem.
An update on Noam Federman: A Jerusalem District Court judge, as expected, has approved his continued incarceration. Federman was brought before the judge on Sunday, the halfway mark of his six-month administrative detention, for an all-but routine review of the orders. He has not been accused of any crime, and is not allowed to know the nature of the charges, if any, against him. Federman's wife Elisheva has said that this is the Shabak's way of "punishing him" for having circulated a pamphlet explaining how to handle Shabak (General Security Service) interrogation sessions.
The matter of Federman's conditions in prison - no walks in the yard, visits of only a half-hour every two weeks with his family, phone calls only to his immediate family - arose in the court session. Surprisingly, the Shabak officials said that they did not insist on these measures, and the ball is now back in the Israel Prison Service court. Elisheva is hoping that the changes will be made by today or tomorrow, but is showing no complacency. In the meantime, efforts continue to have him released outright. Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz, who signed the administrative detention order and can rescind it, can be faxed at: (+972-3)-6976218.