High Court: Kam to stay under house arrest

Justice Elyakim Rubinstein rejects Anat Kam's appeal to ease her house arrest conditions, be allowed out for 'fresh air.' 'House arrest may not be what a man's soul longs for, but is not end of the world either,' he rules

Aviad Glickman|Published: 08.10.10 , 19:34

Anat Kam will not be able to leave her house for some "fresh air," not even with an ankle monitor, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.

Justice Elyakim Rubinstein denied Kam's appeal, in which she requested to ease the conditions of her house arrest.

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In her appeal, Kam, who is accused of committing offences against state security, requested to replace her supervisors – including her father, mother, sister and aunt – with an ankle monitor, and asked to be allowed out of her house for several hours in order to "get some air."

In his ruling, Rubinstein wrote that only four months ago Supreme Court Judge Ayala Procaccia aggravated Kam's house arrest conditions, due to the severity of her offences and contrary to the probation service review.

Rubinstein noted that he is not familiar with a case in which an ankle monitor was given without personal human supervision, and added that the cuff was meant to reinforce human supervision, not replace it.

The judge noted that Kam has been under house arrest for the past eight months, but only four months have passed since Justice Procaccia's ruling, which was not enough in order to change the previous ruling.

"House arrest may not be what a man's soul longs for, but is not the end of the world either," he wrote.

Judge Rubinstein stressed that Kam's house arrest conditions are "sweetened" by her ability to communicate with the outside world, aside from the reporters mentioned in the indictment against her.

Kam's friends may visit her, and she can even decide to spend some of the time in her house in Jerusalem, he wrote, adding that "house arrest is not a hermetic shell; its windows are open – and for now she'll have to make do."

Kam was accused of obtaining and leaking state secrets with intent to harm state security – an offence for which she can receive a life sentence.

During questioning at the Shin Bet, Kam admitted to copying and leaking the documents, but claimed she had no intention to undermine state security, and therefore only contacted Israeli journalists.

When asked about her house arrest, Kam claimed her parents were facing difficulty with the long hours they need to spend in her apartment.