Policeman suspected of receiving bribes for entry permits to infiltrators
Intelligence coordinator arrested on suspicion of helping criminals transport Palestinians into Israel for money and benefits for over a year; discovery made during interrogation of a driver from Umm al-Fahm; judge criticizes police over its handling of the case.
A policeman has been arrested on suspicion of providing entry permits into Israel in exchange for bribes to an Arab resident of Umm al-Fahm who used them to illegally transport other Palestinians into the country.
The matter was brought to the authorities’ attention only after police arrested the Umm al-Fahm resident who, during questioning, claimed that he had driven the Palestinians with permission he had received from a police intelligence coordinator.
Suspicions against the policeman were raised further when the man presented a recording corroborating his claims, prompting officers to arrest the intelligence coordinator, a resident of the northern region.
The Department for the Investigation of Police Members said that the intelligence coordinator was questioned on suspicion of receiving bribes and benefits for providing the entry permits for more than a year.
In 2008, the Umm al-Fahm driver was convicted on a similar charge, after which any cases opened against him were closed due to lack of evidence or public interest. Attorney Lior Pinchas, who represents him on behalf of the Public Defense Office, said that according to his client, the files opened against him over the years were closed with the help of the suspected police intelligence coordinator, who had provided his client the permits to transport the illegal residents.
Pinchas additionally accused the police of arresting the Umm al-Fahm resident as a means of "pressuring" the arrested policeman into issuing a confession.
The Umm al-Fahm driver's claims of having legitimate permits were never examined by the police, who put him in jail and on Wednesday asked the court to extend his arrest for five more days.
When asked by the court why the police did not attempt to verify the driver's claims regarding his having legal permits, a police representative replied: "One intelligence coordinator is detained, and the other is abroad. There is a third coordinator, but this was not verified by him, either." Judge Hadassah Asif responded to this explanation by harshly criticizing the police's conduct and ordering the driver's immediate release.
Judge Asif further stated that while this was a unique case and that the suspect's claims were not unusual, the police were wrong to not bother checking their authenticity, choosing instead to ask to extend his arrest.
"During his interrogation, the suspect raises arguments concerning coordination and agreement with people within the police whose names he gives to the interrogating policeman, and yet I did not see that the police took the necessary actions to examine these claims," stated Judge Asif. She ordered his release on bail and rejected the police's request to delay this in order to consider filing an appeal.
