Druze MK seeks immunity after meetings in Syria
In request sent to Knesset speaker and Knesset House Committee chairman, Balad lawmaker Said Naffaa claims he does not bear criminal responsibility for his actions. 'What I did, I did as a public servant,' he tells Ynet
Knesset Member Said Naffaa (Balad), who may be put on trial for contact with a foreign agent in Syria, asked the Knesset House Committee on Monday to grant him parliamentary immunity from the indictment.
Naffaa met with Deputy Director General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Talal Naji during his visit to Syria in 2007.
"The offenses ascribed to me in the indictment are for actions carried out while doing my job as a member of Knesset, and they are covered by the provisions of the parliamentary immunity law," wrote Naffaa. "The indictment has been prepared and there is intent to issue it against me out of ill will, through discriminating against me out of other members of Knesset or other figures who were suspected of similar offenses."
In response to Naffaa's request, MK Danny Danon (Likud) said Monday that MK Naffaa belongs in prison and not in the Knesset.
"Arab-Israeli leaders think that Israeli law and democracy will protect them even if they commit acts whose sole purpose is to annihilate the State of Israel," Danon said.
'Barakeh? That's a different story'
Naffaa also warned against "real damage to the functioning of the Knesset and the representation of the voting public resulting from the criminal proceedings against me."
According to him, "Not moving forward with the said legal proceedings considering the severity of the offenses, their nature and circumstances, will not have damage in any significant way the public interest."
In a conversation with Ynet, Naffaa said that his decision to request immunity is self-evident. "It does not indicate that I am concerned about the indictment. I have claimed and I continue to claim that what I did, I did as a public servant. I served the population in order to exercise its basic rights, as well as its religious and human rights. I am not the only who has visited an enemy country," he said.
There have been other members of Knesset besides myself that have been investigated in the past for similar suspicions. The cases against them were closed. Only in my case, a black sheep has been chosen – Said Naffaa," said the MK.
Naffaa said, "According to the parliamentary immunity law, if an indictment is prepared or submitted while discriminating between equals, this grants the member of Knesset the right to exercise parliamentary immunity, and this is what I did."
When asked about Hadash Chairman MK Mohammad Barakeh, against whom an indictment was issued a few weeks ago though he chose not to exercise immunity, Naffaa answered, "There is a difference between the indictments issued against him and me. For me, the issue is a purely public issue. This is why I chose to exercise my immunity."
Sharon Roffe-Ofir contributed to this report
