Ben Gurion control tower
Photo: Gilad Kavalerchik
Haredi pirate radio owner to spend holiday in jail
Father of 10 asks court to allow him to spend Rosh Hashana with his family, but judges reject request saying aviation safety precedes personal circumstances
The Tel Aviv District Court decided to reject a request by the owner of a pirate haredi radio station, and ordered that he remain in prison for two more weeks, without leave to spend the holidays with his family.
ShmuelBen Atar, the director of Kol Ha'emet station, was indicted last week for operating a pirate radio station that interrupted with the radio frequency of the Ben Gurion Airport's control tower. Ben-Atar was also charged with attempting to sabotage the investigation and silence witnesses against him.
After the indictment was submitted, the Rishon Lezion Magistrates Court decided to release Ben-Atar to a house arrest, but the State Prosecution appealed to the Tel Aviv court against the ruling.
During a hearing into the appeal Friday, Ben-Atar's attorney presented the court with two letters from rabbis who vowed to order him not to engage in pirate broadcasting anymore.
Additionally, the attorney asked the court to take into consideration the fact Ben-Atar was a strictly Orthodox man and a father of 10, and allow him to spend Rosh Hashana with his family.
The court rejected Ben-Atar's arguments and stated that "the personal circumstances dwarfed in comparison to a plane trying desperately to land in Israel."
The judges stated that the issue of pirate broadcasting posed a real threat to aviation safety in Israel, and decided to overturn the previous ruling and leave Ben-Atar in jail.
