The State Prosecution informed the Jerusalem District Court this morning that it was dropping all charges against Noam Federman in the case known as the Bat Ayin conspiracy. Federman has been incarcerated under administrative detention orders, officially unconnected to the Bat Ayin case, for seven and a half months.
The Prosecution announced today that because of the unreliability of the only witness against Federman, it could no longer support the charges against Federman. Two other defendants in the case - Yossi Ben-Baruch and Tzuriel Amior - were acquitted, after only the same witness testified against them. The witness, Yarden Morag, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in the case, while two others were sentenced to 15 years.
The three confessed to having set up a "wagon bomb" at the entrance to an Arab school in eastern Jerusalem in May 2002 - but claimed that they never meant for it to explode. As proof, they cited the fact that the battery to which the explosives were connected was empty - but the prosecution said that this was merely an oversight on their part.
The Prosecution had long claimed that Federman was the "brains" behind the Bat Ayin plot. Even worse, District Court Judge Yaakov Tzemach ruled on Sept 25 of last year, "It's clear that he is the brains and the living spirit behind the terrorist acts" against Arabs - thus rejecting Federman's first appeal of the first six-month administrative order against him.
Federman now demands, following the collapse of the case against him, to be released from administrative detention. A right-wing activist who lives in Hevron, Federman has long been the target of a Shabak (General Security Service) campaign against him. This was in fact approximately the 40th time he has been acquitted or has had the charges against him dropped.
The Yesha Rabbinical Council reacted quickly to today's developments, and is calling for Federman's immediate release from prison.
Moshe Feiglin, head of the Manhigut Yehudit [Jewish Leadership] faction within the Likud, recently sent a sharply-worded letter to Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz, writing as follows:
"Are you aware that the regulation that you invoked when you signed the administrative detention order for Noam Federman, is one enacted during the British Mandate against veterans of the underground movements, who later established the very Likud party that you wish to lead? Are you aware that one of the underground heroes who was arrested administratively and exiled to Eritrea by the British in accordance with this Draconian regulation, was none other than Noam Federman's father?"
The Prosecution announced today that because of the unreliability of the only witness against Federman, it could no longer support the charges against Federman. Two other defendants in the case - Yossi Ben-Baruch and Tzuriel Amior - were acquitted, after only the same witness testified against them. The witness, Yarden Morag, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in the case, while two others were sentenced to 15 years.
The three confessed to having set up a "wagon bomb" at the entrance to an Arab school in eastern Jerusalem in May 2002 - but claimed that they never meant for it to explode. As proof, they cited the fact that the battery to which the explosives were connected was empty - but the prosecution said that this was merely an oversight on their part.
The Prosecution had long claimed that Federman was the "brains" behind the Bat Ayin plot. Even worse, District Court Judge Yaakov Tzemach ruled on Sept 25 of last year, "It's clear that he is the brains and the living spirit behind the terrorist acts" against Arabs - thus rejecting Federman's first appeal of the first six-month administrative order against him.
Federman now demands, following the collapse of the case against him, to be released from administrative detention. A right-wing activist who lives in Hevron, Federman has long been the target of a Shabak (General Security Service) campaign against him. This was in fact approximately the 40th time he has been acquitted or has had the charges against him dropped.
The Yesha Rabbinical Council reacted quickly to today's developments, and is calling for Federman's immediate release from prison.
Moshe Feiglin, head of the Manhigut Yehudit [Jewish Leadership] faction within the Likud, recently sent a sharply-worded letter to Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz, writing as follows:
"Are you aware that the regulation that you invoked when you signed the administrative detention order for Noam Federman, is one enacted during the British Mandate against veterans of the underground movements, who later established the very Likud party that you wish to lead? Are you aware that one of the underground heroes who was arrested administratively and exiled to Eritrea by the British in accordance with this Draconian regulation, was none other than Noam Federman's father?"