Officer maintains he acted alone and of his own accord.
By JPOST.COM STAFFUpdated: APRIL 1, 2018 10:39Ashkenazi galant duo 311(photo credit: AP/Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
Lt.-Col. (res.) Boaz Harpaz has admitted to police that he forged the "Galant document according to media reports Friday morning.Harpaz remains in police custody until Sunday, while investigators examine his role in the controversy surrounding an attempt to derail the likely appointment of Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant to the become the next IDF chief of staff after Gabi Ashkenazi.Harpaz has maintained that he committed the forgery of his own accord, without receiving instructions from anyone else connected to the affair.His remand was extended for five days by the Petah Tikva Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.Police had originally requested the remand be extended by 10 days, but negotiations with Harpaz’s defense lawyers led to an agreement on a five-day custody period.In addition to forging the document, Harpaz is suspected by police of attempting to illegally influence the testimony of a number of witnesses questioned in recent weeks over the affair, the police representative told the court.A protocol of the closed-door session was issued by the court. Judge Shiri Rafaeli ruled that despite the agreement reached between police and Harpaz’s lawyers, police must release the suspect before his five-day custody period ends if the National Serious and International Crimes Unit, which is leading the investigation, find that his continued incarceration is not necessary for the investigation.
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