Levin alleges state attorneys violating High Court ruling on Sde Teiman probe

Justice Minister Yariv Levin alleges that senior officials in the Attorney General’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office have continued to involve themselves in the criminal investigation into the Sde Teiman video leak, despite the position of the High Court of Justice that they must refrain from so doing.

Levin was responding to a submission of the State Attorney’s Office to the High Court opposing Levin’s request that the court allow State Ombudsman for Judges Asher Kula to supervise the Sde Teiman video leak investigation. The submission also cited the police as saying that the investigation is nearly finished

The justice minister alleges that officials from the Attorney General’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office “are ignoring this court’s ruling and are in direct contact with the investigating officials and receiving reports from them about the progress of the investigation.”

Levin makes this claim on the basis that the State Attorney’s Office submission was authored by the agency’s deputy director for High Court petitions on behalf of State Attorney Amit Aisman, whom Levin said was prohibited from involvement in the case.

Levin also points out that the submission cited a statement by the police telling the State Attorney’s Office the investigation was almost complete, noting that the head of the police’s Department for Investigations and Intelligence, Boaz Balat, had signed off on the statement.

It appears, however, that Balat transmitted his statement to the legal adviser to the police, not directly to the State Attorney’s Office.

“Practically speaking, the investigation has been softened, covered up, and obstructed, and the heads of the State Attorney’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office are already rushing to announce its coming completion without it having been exhausted, and without basic investigative actions having been done to reveal the truth and exhaust the investigation,” alleges Levin.

This situation, the justice minister insists, required the immediate appointment of Kula. He claims any other outcome would mean “the loss of public trust in the law enforcement system.”