B’Tselem urges state to allow suspects in Duma firebombing to meet attorneys

Human rights organization B’Tselem calls to allow three individuals suspected of firebombing a Palestinian home in July to meet with their attorneys.

B’Tselem also urges authorities to investigate the suspects “without abuse or use of prohibited interrogation methods.”

The suspects, all of whom were arrested by the Shin Bet security service within the last month, have been denied legal counsel since the time of their arrest at the recommendation of the security service on the grounds it would obstruct their ongoing investigation and possibly thwart additional arrests of suspects believed to be involved in the yet to be named incident.

Saad and Riham Dawabsha, with baby Ali. All three died when the Dawabsha home in the West Bank village of Duma was firebombed, by suspected Jewish extremists, on July 31, 2015 (Channel 2 screenshot)

The Supreme Court on Sunday ruled that the three should be prevented from meeting with their lawyers due to the nature of the investigation and the severity of the crimes they are charged with.

Suspected Jewish extremists torched the Dawabsha home on July 31 while the family slept. Ali Dawabsha, the family’s 18-month old son, died in the attack; his parents, Saad and Riham, succumbed to their injuries in Israeli hospitals in the aftermath of the attack.