LGBT activist has remand extended over shooting

Police say suspect knows details of 2009 gay youth center shooting; court agrees to reveal suspect's identity on Tuesday.

By BEN HARTMAN, JPOST.COM STAFF
candles commemorates LGBT center shooting 370 (photo credit: REUTERS)
candles commemorates LGBT center shooting 370
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court on Sunday extended by three days the remand of a well-known activist from the LGBT community who was arrested last week for a crime linked to the motive for the 2009 shooting at the Bar Noar gay youth center that left two dead and 11 wounded.
The court also ruled that they would not yet ease the gag order that has been placed on the case, even as more details have made their way online.
That said, following a request from reporters present at the meeting, the presiding judge, Ido Darvian, said that in light of the inability to keep a tight lid on the case due to the Internet and rumors circulating online, later this week the gag order would at least be partially lifted. This will include allowing the publication of the LGBT activist’s name and further details of the case.
The activist is not suspected of being involved in the murder.
Rather, a separate crime he is accused of is believed to have been the motive for the suspects to carry out the shooting, which police say was an act of vengeance.
The activist is considered a key part of the police case against the other three suspects.
Earlier on Sunday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made his first public statement on the arrests of the three suspects in the Bar Noar murder, saying: “Last week I commended Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch and Israel Police commissioner Insp.-Gen. Yohanan Danino on the impressive progress in the investigation of the horrible murder at the youth club in Tel Aviv.
“I visited the site shortly after the crime and met with several young people who were there at the time of the murder. It seems that there has been very substantial progress. I very much hope that this cycle will be concluded shortly.
“This is important for the rule of law in the State of Israel and for the sense of equality for all Israelis.”