IDF tanks in Gaza
Photo: AFP
Indictment expected against Iranian journalists
Court extends remand of east Jerusalem residents working for Iranian TV network arrested under suspicion of violating censorship order by reporting on IDF ground incursion into Gaza. Police to file indictment within two days for endangering State's security
The Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court extended by two days the remand of Iranian TV journalist Khader Shahin and producer Mohammed Sarhan, who were arrested under suspicion of violating a censorship order.
The two allegedly reported of the IDF's ground incursion into the Gaza Strip before the information was cleared for publications, and were accused of transmitting confidential information and violating an order.
At the hearing police said an indictment would be filed against the two within two days.
The suspects, who work for a news agency in Ramallah, were arrested last week and their remand has already been extended by six days.
The National Unit for International Investigations has requested their remand be extended an additional five days since the prosecution announced it plans to file an indictment against the two.
The suspects' attorney David Deri said in the hearing that the prosecution's announcement was faulty since it did not specify the clauses of the charges to be brought against the two, and did not detail any grounds for the arrests.
Deri further argued that the two published news of the IDF mobilizing towards Gaza some two hours before the gag order on the matter was lifted.
According to the lawyer, an artificial situation was created in which "any censorship violation is a supposed violation of the law", saying that there have been many incidents in which censorship orders were violated, but did not lead to the arrest of journalists.
Deri said the journalist reported that the IDF entered Gaza only after receiving a note from his producer, and took this to mean the information was cleared for publication.
The National Unit for International Investigations' representative said the request to have the pair's remand extended further stood not only on the prosecution's claims, but also on the grounds that the two pose a threat to the security of the State, and are a flight risk.
The representative claimed that the two carried out the offense together, as the journalist claimed he reported the information after receiving it from the producer who heard the report on the Army Radio.
Judge Aharon Golds said that there is no alternative to arrest when it comes to offenses concerning national security.
Prohibiting the suspects from engaging in journalistic work at this point would also be useless, as the two still had access to telephones and the internet, and could still pose a threat to national security.
