The Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office filed an indictment against Evyatar
Yosef and Matan Nivon in the Jerusalem District Court for a February 8 arson
attack against the management offices of Beitar Jerusalem.
Yosef, 21, is
a resident of Moshav Ruha and Nivon, 23, is a resident of Kiryat Gat.
The
police had arrested three suspects last Tuesday and Wednesday in investigating
the attack. Two of the arrested suspects admitted they were involved in the
arson, according to police.
Police added that the men admitted the arson
was in response to the soccer team’s hiring of Chechen Muslim players Gabriel
Kadiev and Zaur Sadayev, a move that has been the subject of harsh criticism
from more extreme members of the Beitar fan base.
According to the
indictment, the two defendants decided to perpetrate the arson attack late at
night on February 7.
The defendants donned gloves, neck warmers and ski
masks to disguise their appearance, said the indictment.
The two drove to
a gas station and filled two large bottles with gasoline, covered them with
nylon and placed them in the trunk of the car, the indictment said. They then
allegedly parked the car several minutes walking from their target, the
management offices.
On their way, each of the defendants took an envelope
from a mailbox near the offices, according to the indictment. They then
allegedly broke two office windows with stones, threw in the gasoline bottles,
threw in the envelopes which they had lit on fire, and fled the
scene.
The three arrested men, two of whom have been indicted so far, are
all members of the hardcore Beitar fan group La Familia. The Jerusalem
Magistrate’s Court has already extended their remand until at least March 7 and
the state has asked that they be remanded to police custody until the end of the
proceedings.
One suspect also said the arson was planned out for some
time and was not a spontaneous act. Police had said last week that they expect
to make more arrests in the case.
Melanie Lidman contributed to this
report.
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