Two Israeli businessmen in their mid-30s were detained for 18 days in Zambia on suspicion of involvement in terrorism after an explosion in their hotel room in the capital, Lusaka, authorities and their attorney said.
The incident dates back to September, when the two men, who work for an agricultural company in Malawi bordering Zambia, were staying at the InterContinental hotel in Lusaka.
According to their account, they placed a bottle of fertilizer in the room’s refrigerator, intending to take it back with them to Malawi. For reasons that remain unclear, the substance exploded inside the refrigerator, completely burning the room and causing damage to adjacent rooms.
The two men left Zambia shortly afterward and returned to Malawi.
Four months later, they re-entered Zambia and were arrested at a border crossing after authorities determined they were wanted in connection with the explosion. They were taken for questioning by Zambia’s counterterrorism unit on suspicion of links to terrorism, based on the blast in a room registered in their names.
The two men said they had received the bottle of fertilizer from another employee of their agricultural company and were instructed to keep it refrigerated. They told investigators they were unaware the substance could ignite or explode.
The counterterrorism unit rejected their explanation and also suspected they had intended to smuggle a drone, according to their attorney.
The men were held in difficult conditions in two separate detention facilities to prevent them from coordinating their accounts. Each was held in a small cell with 14 other detainees.
Israel’s ambassador to Zambia, Ofra Farhi, and the embassy’s security officer visited the detainees, and at their request conditions of detention were improved. The ambassador and security officer also met with investigators and officials from Zambia’s Interior Ministry.
After more than two weeks of questioning, the counterterrorism unit ruled out terrorism suspicions. On Friday, the two businessmen were deported from Zambia and barred from returning.
Attorney Mordechai Tzivin, who specializes in representing Israelis facing legal trouble abroad, said: “I am pleased with the release and thank the law enforcement authorities in Zambia for reaching the conclusion that these are legitimate businessmen — that no wrongdoing was found in their actions and that the suspicion of involvement in terrorism was proven unfounded — as well as representatives of the Foreign Ministry and the embassy in Zambia for their intensive efforts and meetings with senior Zambian officials and the Zambian ambassador to Israel.”