Lawyer for accused right-wing extremist says his confession unlawful
Police ignored protocol requiring special interrogator for 18-year-old with Asperger’s arrested for planning attack on left-wingers, attorney says
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The lawyer for an 18-year-old Israeli who has been indicted for allegedly planning to attack left-wing demonstrators in Tel Aviv on December 19 accused police on Thursday of violating protocol in their interrogation of her client, who has Asperger’s syndrome, and said that criminal proceedings against him should be dropped.
Public defender Moran Gross told Army Radio the her client, whose name has not been publicized, was interrogated by regular investigators instead of ones designated for suspects with special needs. Asperger’s syndrome is a high-functioning condition on the autism spectrum.
“The police violated the basic rights of a person with special needs and investigated him not once but twice with a regular investigator,” Gross said. “Only after four days of detention were the police so kind as to bring a special investigator to conduct the investigation.”
According to Israeli law, a special interrogator must be brought in from the moment that a regular investigator realizes that the suspect in question has any kind of mental disorder. Police in this case reportedly knew of the suspect’s condition on the night of the arrest.
The suspect was arrested after throwing a glass bottle at protesters at a demonstration opposing alleged right-wing “incitement” against left-wing advocacy organizations, President Reuven Rivlin and others.
He has been charged with assaulting an officer, possession of a knife and attempted assault.
Gross added that a criminal investigation could cause “enormous and potentially irreversible” damage to her client.
“There is no need to expand upon the pressure that a criminal investigation can put on a normal person, and more so for someone with Asperger’s syndrome,” she said.
Gross added that she was planning to file a complaint with the Justice Ministry’s internal affairs unit, which oversees police activity.
The Tel Aviv District Police said in a statement that the investigation had been carried out according to protocol. “The investigation was managed professionally and according to the rules, and at its conclusion an indictment was served, and the file is [now] being managed by the court. Due to privacy reasons, we cannot expand.”
The Times of Israel Community.