Court will decide whether arson suspect was tortured

Lod court to decide whether Jewish arson suspect’s confession was made under torture or is acceptable in court.

By Chana Roberts, INN

The Lod Distict Court is expected to decide in the coming weeks whether the confessions and testimonies of the Duma suspects can be accepted or are invalid due to torture.

On Wednesday night, Kan 11 reported that the defense claim that Amiram Ben-Uliel’s confessions were made under torture, and therefore cannot be accepted in court.

Transcripts of the Shabak (Israel Security Agency) interrogation show the suspect “confessed” under torture, after then-Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein approved the measure.

Ben-Uliel is charged with murdering three members of the Dawabshe family, as well as murdering another minor who was at their home at the time.

Since the indictment was filed in January 2016, there has been a trial within a trial regarding whether his confessions can be accepted. The upcoming ruling will heavily influence Ben-Uliel’s entire case.

According to the Kan report, the Supreme Court extended last week – for the tenth time – Ben-Uliel’s arrest, until completion of the legal proceedings against the second suspect. According to Israeli law, arrest of a minor until completion of legal proceedings is limited to six months. However, the Supreme Court is authorized a 45 day extension – as many times as it wants.

Jewish “terrorists” were immediately blamed for a July 2015 arson attack in an Arab village due to the presence of Hebrew graffiti at the site. However, several large question markshave emerged in the case. In August 2015, a second home belonging to the Dawabshe family was burned down, further raising those questions – which include reports of a long-standing feud in the village.

In August 2015, local Arabs claimed they knew who had started the fire – but their suspect turned out to already be in jail. In 2016, another arson incident occurred in Duma, which pointed to a family feud. The 2016 arson attack was declared not to have been carried out by Jews,