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Photo: Niv Calderon
MK Gal-On
Photo: Niv Calderon
Photo: Niv Calderon
Committee head, Judge Eliyahu Winograd
Photo: Niv Calderon

Appeal: Make Winograd Commission hearings public

Meretz MK appeals to High Court in demand to public testimonies heard during discussions of committee probing war in Lebanon. 'There is no doubt public is entitled to full reliable and detailed information on failures which accompanied fighting,' she claims

Knesset Member Zahava Gal-On (Meretz) on Tuesday appealed to the High Court of Justice in a demand to hold the discussions of the Winograd Commission, probing the war in Lebanon, publicly.

 

According to MK Gal-On, the hearings being held behind closed doors harm the public interest and serve the purposes of the prime minister and his ministers.

 

The MK demanded that the court instructs the committee to open the hearings to the public and publish the protocols at the end of each meeting, excluding cases in which there is clear certainty that it would harm the State's security.

 

The appeal also asked the court to instruct the committee not to continue its discussions and hearings, including delaying the testimonies of the prime minister, the defense minister and the foreign minister, until a final decision is made regarding the petition.

 

'Public entitled to all the information'

In the petition, Gal-On explains that "during the war the public was under an impression that there were many failures in the conduct of the front and the home front… Those who entered bomb shelters to the sounds of loud explosions in many cases found a closed door and authorities without any answers or solution…

 

"In light of all this, many have called for the establishment of a commission of inquiry into the conduct of the political and defense echelon during the war, in order to draw the required conclusions and implement them as soon as possible."

 

The MK explained that the court had already recognized the public's right to know and ruled that this right is one of the freedom of speech's most important and key derivatives.

 

"There is no doubt that the public is entitled to full reliable and detailed information and to the maximum possible data on the deeds, the accomplishments and the failures which accompanied the fighting," Gal-On said.

 


פרסום ראשון: 01.09.07, 12:34
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