Pearlman before arrest
Photo courtesy of Channel 2 News
Attorney Sharon Nahari
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Supreme Court: Pearlman disconnected from world
Justice Edmond Levy rebukes State Prosecutor's Office, Shin Bet for failing to bring 'Jewish terrorist', other suspect to court hearing. Prosecutor: It was a misunderstanding
Supreme Court Judge Edmond Levy on Wednesday rebuked the State Prosecutor's Office and the Shin Bet for failing to bring "Jewish terrorist" Haim Pearlman
and the other suspect in the affair, David Sitbon,
to the courthouse.
Prosecutor Avinoam Segal tried to explain that it was a "misunderstanding", but Levy went on to say that "in all my years as a judge I have never witnessed an incident in which I instruct to bring the detainee to the courthouse and he is not brought in.
The court convened to hear the two men's appeal against the State's refusal to let them meet with their lawyers. "I received a strange response, which I've never heard before," said Levy.
On Monday
Yoav Zitun
Police say protestors backing 'Jewish terrorist' gathered illegally outside court hearing his case
"He must be brought to the courthouse in any case. I want to hear from the detainee as well. He is living in a vacuum. A discussion cannot be held without the petitioners' presence. The court must hear them. It's not a matter of wanting to or not wanting to. We have a petitioner who is disconnected from the world, and it's his elementary right to have his situation explained to him and to have a lawyer."
Due to the detainees' absence, the hearing on their appeal was postponed to Thursday. Pearlman's lawyer, Attorney Sharon Nahari, said "we are pleased with Justice Levy's statements, and the petitioners must be brought to the courthouse. It's unthinkable that the Shin Bet and police would do whatever they feel like. Preventing a meeting with a lawyer is an unusual and unacceptable thing."
Sitbon's brother, Menachem, said "the Shin Bet couldn't care less about the judge's decision. This is dictatorship."
On Tuesday night, Sitbon's other brother threatened to jump off a rooftop in Jerusalem if the Shin Bet and police refused to let his brother meet with a lawyer, but was eventually convinced not to kill himself. His brother, Menachem, said he had not heard anything about it and did not talk to him.
Sitbon's brother-in-law, Yonatan Baruch, arrived at the court as well, expecting to see the suspect. "As far as we know, David has no criminal record and is a normal kid. One of the brothers is a terror victim. I think the Shin Bet's conduct harms the values of democracy and human rights."
4 murders, 7 attempted murders
Sitbon was arrested on Monday as part of the investigation against Pearlman, who he befriended in the past. Sitbon is suspected of breaking into a military base and stealing weapons or ammunition together with another person in order to transfer them to the main suspect.
"Jewish terrorist" Haim Pearlman is suspected of being involved in four murders and seven attempted murders, in 1998, 1999 and 2004.
The 30-year-old Pearlman, a father of three, is suspected of committing a string of murders in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood, in what was known at the time as the "serial stabber" affair. He says the Shin Bet framed him because he refused to serve as its informant.
"They fabricated the whole thing, just like in the 'Truman Show'. They are trying to frame me. That's what I think," he told Channel 2.
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