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Arrested in India – Noa Haviv didn't check her bag

Foreign Ministry envoys in India hope Noa Haviv, arrested Thursday morning with a magazine of bullets in her bag, won't have to wait long time before being released. Israeli consul to Bombay meets her and reports: She's okay

The Israeli Consul to Mumbai (Bombay), India, Daniel Sivan, told Ynet, "Noa feels well, is aware of what is going on, and is overall fine relative to the situation that has been created." Thursday evening, Sivan met Noa Haviv, 28 from Jerusalem, who was arrested Thursday morning when a full magazine of 16 bullets was found in her bag.

 

Haviv traveled to India with her brother's backpack, but apparently didn't thoroughly check it and so didn't notice the magazine left in the bag from her brother's last reserve duty. "She was very surprised when the magazine showed up in a check performed on her bag in Mumbai," said Sivan.

 

Following Haviv's arrest this morning, Foreign Ministry representatives have been in contact with local authorities in an effort to release her as quickly as possible. The young woman was in detention with the local police.

 

"We want to be cautious, but we met with the commander of the police station, who is responsible for the actual investigation and saw that they understood that this was a case of human error," said Sivan. "I hope that this will be expressed Friday in court and that she will be released on bail."

 

To the question whether Sivan will be able to be released on bail in such a way that allows her to continue her trip as she planned, Sivan said, "Those are stipulations that only the judge can decide. In general, it is accepted that release on bail obligates one to stay nearby."

 

Sivan added that the young woman's family already got in contact with one of the lawyers in Mumbai in order to help her: "I believe he will represent her in the first, and hopefully the last, hearing. I got the impression that in the current situation, the authorities have no cause for her not to be released on bail, and therefore I want to be optimistic."

 

Last December, tour guide Gili Heskin was arrested after a rifle bullet was found in his bag before taking off from India to Sri Lanka together with a group of tourists he was guiding. Heskin was released following the bureaucracy of many months. The question is now being asked if Haviv will encounter the same system, causing her to remain a long time in Indian detainment.

 

Israeli Consul General to Mumbai Daniel Zonshine thinks this time the problem will be solved sooner. "A magazine in a bag is something forbidden in India, but I'm not convinced that in all of India the incident is viewed with the same severity," he said to Ynet. "I think there were already incidents like this in the past."

 

"I want to hope that reason will prevail and that there won't be a repeat of Gili Heskin's story. This is an independent legal system that judges by its rules, but I want nevertheless to be optimistic," added Zonshine. According to him, the Foreign Ministry is in contact with the Haviv family in Israel and with the Indian authorities and is making every effort to solve the complicated situation that has arisen: "We are doing what we think right in order to try and help her. I hope things work out.

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 09.22.06, 01:01
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