Police: MK Ghattas not answering his phone, evading investigation
After receiving official approval to summon the Joint List MK for investigation amid suspicions of phone smuggling to Palestinian prisoners, police unable to reach him after discovering that he, and all his close associates, have switched off their phones; Ghattas's lawyer: 'We have been in contact since this morning.'
Official approval for his investigation was granted on Monday morning. However, when trying to reach Ghattas to establish a day for questioning, it emerged that he, his advisors and inner circle had switched off their cellphones, promting police to conclude that Ghattas is evading investigation.
According to Ghattas’s lawyers however, the MK was contactable the entire time. “We never went underground. These are false claims. We have been in contact with the police since the morning to coordinate a day. MK Ghattas will appear for an investigation,” he assured.
In such cases, the police usually employ cellphone pinpointing techniques and wiretaps in order to locate the suspect. Ghattas however, is immune from such location techniques on account of him being an MK.
During a search that was conducted after meetings took place between Ghattas and Palestinian security prisoners, 12 telephones were found in the possession of Walid Daka—one of the terrorists responsible for the kidnapping and murder of IDF soldier Moshe Tamam in 1984—and Basel Bazra along with small letters containing encrypted messages which aroused suspicion that Ghattas had smuggled the phones to the prisoners.
