Main suspect involved in Lahav 433 legal case questioned, arrest expected

The police informed the court on Tuesday, in response to a request by the Globes, that it "strongly opposes the removal of a gag order."

By ALON HOCHMON
Updated: JANUARY 16, 2019 09:31
Lahav 433 (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Lahav 433
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
The main suspect involved in the Lahav 433 legal case that stirred up the justice systems was questioned and investigated, after his house was raided on Wednesday.
The police informed the court on Tuesday, in response to a request by the Globes, that it "strongly opposes the removal of a gag order, in whole or in part, in light of the sensitivity of the subject matter of the order."
The police signed a brief response by saying that "it is fair and right to accept this response." In other words, the police justified the need for a gag order due to the sensitivity of the issue, claiming that it did not believe that there was a risk of disrupting the investigation in case the order was canceled.
Despite the police's announcement, however, the law set a completely different criterion for issuing gag orders on police investigation. Section 70 of the law stated that "a court may prohibit the publication of the name of a suspect who had not yet been indicted, or any other detail of the investigation, if this may harm the investigation under the law."
In other words, the only relevant reason for issuing the order was the fear of harming the investigation, and not public sensitivity, as stated.
It should be noted that both the Netanya and the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court have so far agreed to the police's requests to issue the order for the case, which raises questions about the discretion exercised by judges to respond to police requests to issue gag orders on police investigations. 


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