Ketziot Prison (archives)
Photo: Shaul Levy, Ramat Hanegev
Lawyer suspected of smuggling telephones to security prisoner
Cleared for publication: Attorney Khaled Dasuki caught smuggling cell phones, SIM cards to Palestinian inmate at Ketziot jail. Israel Prison Service looking into how he passed security inspections
Attorney Khaled Dasuki of the Galilee village of Jadeida has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling cellular phones and SIM cards to security prisoners at the Ketziot Prison in southern Israel.
Dasuki denied the allegations during his questioning, but after being confronted with a film documenting the smuggling, he collapsed and fainted.
The details of the affair were cleared for publication on Friday afternoon, and Dasuki is expected to be indicted in the coming days.
According to suspicions, Dasuki arrived at the prison on July 6 to visit an inmate he represents. He passed the security inspections with no suspicious objects found on his body.
While talking to the prisoner, he pulled out three cell phones and SIM cards used for their operations and handed them to the inmate. He was then caught by the wardens. The phones were confiscated and the lawyer was turned over to the Dimona Police for questioning.
During his interrogation, Dasuki said he could not have transferred the phones, as he had been checked at the entrance to the prison and had he been smuggling phones, they should have been seized during the security checks.
Remand extended several times
Following the incident, the Ketziot Prison director issued an administrative order prohibiting Dasuki from entering the jail to meet with security prisoners.The court extended the lawyer's remand several times at the request of the State's representatives, Attorney Orly Ben-Ari of the State Prosecutor's Office and Attorney Ayelet Tal of the Israel Prison Service. Dasuki appealed the Supreme Court, but his petition was denied.
About a month ago, Dasuki arrived for another interrogation and was confronted with the complete investigation material, which included a video showing him passing the phones and cards to the prisoner. After watching the film, he collapsed and fainted. A Magen David Adom crew was dispatched to the police station to attend to him.
It is still unclear how the lawyer managed to smuggle the phones and cards into the prison. IPS sources said that Dasuki had undergone a security inspection before entering the facility, and that the IPS is now attempting to understand how he had managed to smuggle the phones despite the security check.
