After 45 days in custody, the Ramle Magistrate’s Court ruled on Sunday to
release a father suspected of killing his son to house arrest.
Mohammed
Sarsour, from the Arab village of Kafr Kasim east of Tel Aviv, has been remanded
in custody since police arrested him 45 days ago on suspicion of involvement in
killing his 10-year-old son, Anas.
A relative discovered Anas’s body in
early June, in an olive grove not far from his home, after locals spent hours
searching for the missing boy.
Police found signs of violence on the
child’s body and suspected foul play. Sarsour was arrested a day later.
A
day before the alleged murder, Anas came back from school at noon, ate lunch at
home and told his parents he was going to visit his cousin to play. He never
reached his cousin’s house and Sarsour went to the police station to report his
son’s disappearance.
Since his arrest, the court has extended Sarsour’s
detention seven times. Police suspect he was involved in the killing but say
they have not yet gathered sufficient evidence to indict him.
In Sunday’s
court hearing, police representatives clashed with Sarsour’s attorney, Giora
Zilbershtien, over the conditions of Sarsour’s house arrest.
Police asked
that Sarsour be released to house arrest outside of Kafr Kasim, because of
concerns that he could interrupt the investigation if he were in his home
village. The court ruled that Sarsour would be released to house arrest in Kafr
Kasim, but said that he will be held for 24 hours in Taiba in order to allow
police to file an appeal with the district court.
The court also agreed
to a request by Sarsour’s defense attorney that he be allowed to pay a visit to
his son’s grave before beginning his house arrest, despite police objections.
However, Sarsour is not permitted to visit the grave until after the police
appeal.
“I lost my boy. Then I was imprisoned for 40 days. I’ve never
been in prison before," a shaken Mahmoud told the media in court. “Let the
investigation continue and let them catch who did this,” he added.
Upon
his release, Sarsour said “I thank all Israelis, Arabs and Jews who supported
me, especially the residents of Kafr Kasim and my attorney Giora
Zilbershtien.”
Sarsour’s family have also argued that the father had
nothing to do with his son’s death.
Last month, police intensively
searched Sarsour’s home, as well as his cellphone activities.
During
police questioning, the father was asked why did not cry over his son’s violent
death, according to attorney Anwar Fareej, who represented him last month. The
attorney slammed the question as illegitimate during a remand hearing in
June.
It was “unfeasible that someone who was a good father, who cared
and worried for his child, would do something like this,” Fareej
said.
Immediately after the hearing, police summoned Sarsour for further
questioning.
Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report.