Balad activist arrested for security offences
Police arrest Niad Malhem, Balad activist and member of Pact of Free Druze, under suspicion of serious security-related offenses. Balad chairman MK Jamal Zahalka: 'Arrest is a provocation'
Niad Malhem, a member of the Balad party and the Pact of Free Druze, was arrested on Sunday by police on suspicion that he had committed serious security-related offences.
The arrest was cleared for publication after a gag order on the details of the case was lifted Monday evening.
Balad party chairman MK Jamal Zahalka responded to the allegations by saying that it was yet another example of political persecution.
"This arrest is an act of provocation," Zahalka told Ynet.
"Yesterday (Balad MK Said) Naffaa was questioned and today Malhem is arrested. Other members of the movement have also been called in for these provocation investigations, which are in essence political investigations."
"The purpose of these investigations is to sow fear, to harm the legitimacy of our political activity. I just want to tell those seeking to harm us - you will not be successful."
This is far from the first time a member of Balad has been in hot water over alleged security offenses. Former Balad party chairman, Azmi Bishara fled Israel to escape an ongoing police investigation and resigned from the Knesset in a whirlwind turn of events in April.
For weeks the circumstances surrounding Bishara's sudden departure were the subject of an untold volume of rumors until police were finally allowed to confirm Bishara was suspected of having committed grave offenses against national security.
Bishara's charges include: aiding the enemy during times of war, meeting with a foreign agent, passing information to the enemy and other infractions dealing the funding of terrorism and laundering money.
According to the allegations, Bishara made contact with a Hizbullah agent during the Second Lebanon War and passed along information about strategic sites in Israel in return for hundreds of thousands of dollars. According to the charges, the militant Shi'ite organization intended to launch Katyusha rockets at the sites that Bishara provided information about.
Sharon Roffe-Ofir contributed to this report
