_a.jpg "Photo: Ahiye Raved")
Shfaram protest
Photo: Ahiye Raved
Natan Zada
Shfaram lynch suspects released to house arrest
Five suspects in lynch of terrorist Eden Natan Zada released to house arrest after police fail to say when they plan to submit charges
The Haifa District Court released five individuals suspected of being part of the lynch of terrorist Eden
Natan Zada to a month's home arrest.
The suspects were released last week, and the judge said that the release should not be seen as a "victory" by the suspects. He added however that the release shows that the court is not the police's "rubber stamp."
Zada Lynching
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After a months-long investigation, police arrested seven Shfaram suspects in July who were suspected to be responsible for the death of Zada, who murdered four of the city's residents after opening fire on them on a bus.
After the attack, a mob encircled the bus, threw stones at it, and eventually entered the vehicle and killed Zada, who was already bound and under police custody.
Following the arrests, Shfraram launched a strike and held protest marches and demonstrations in the city. Hundreds of residents demonstrated outside of the Haifa court during the suspect's custody extensions.
'They can't arrest everyone'
Judge Shimon Sher, who led the proceedings, extended the suspects' remand three times, before releasing them to house arrest.
The decision was taken after police did not present a prosecutor's affidavit, despite the judge's demand.
The judge said that the legal process "reached an intersection, and I told the police to reach a conclusion on whether charges should be submitted in its opinion."
The judge also called on the sides not to exploit the release of the suspects for an early celebration.
"There is no victory in this decision," he said. "Despite doubts here and there, courts in Israel are not a rubber stamp," Judge Sher added.
Many in Shfaram were pleased with the release. One of the main activists of the Hadash party in the city, Naked Naked, said that the city's residents believed from the start that police "went too far" in making the arrests, and that it did not have enough witnesses for a trial.
"They don't have witnesses. There were hundreds of people there, they can't arrest everyone," he added.
