Niv Asraf, who was presumed kidnapped last week but turned out to have been hiding, says he is “sorry for everything that happened.”
Asraf claims he has been the victim of harassment by career criminals and that he filed numerous complaints with Beersheba police but was ignored. “I received a phone call from which I knew there was no turning back,” he says. “I’d rather disappear than to have been done in.” Asraf even added “if I really wanted to fabricate a kidnapping, no one would have found me.”
Eran Negauker, 22-year-old from Beer Sheva, seen at the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on April 06, 2015, a few days after Niv Asraf (not seen) was found in Kiryat Arba after being falsely reported as missing. (Photo credit: Miriam Alster/Flash90)
He accuses police of ignoring his past complaints, saying “what did the Israel police come to that I need to run away in the [Palestinian] territories? I’m not a kid who gets involved with such things. I’m used to transporting prisoners, not to have hand cuffs on my own hands, but I’d prefer it than to be buried inside a tallit [as is Jewish custom].”
Asraf also says he is willing to work as an agent against the people he alleges threatened him.
Police on Monday opposed a court’s decision to release Asraf, and Eran Nagaoker, a career soldier and Asraf’s accomplice. The two were let go free, without even an interim period of house arrest. Police intends to file an indictment against Asraf later this week and says his account of events to the media on Monday differs from his testimony when interrogated when he was found.
Niv Asraf (C) and his friend Eran Negauker (L), 22-year-olds from Beer Sheva, are seen at the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court for remand extension on April 3, 2015, a morning after Asraf was found in Kiryat Arba after being falsely reported as missing. (Photo credit: Hadas Parush/Flash90)
“These claims lack a factual basis. There is no registry of a complaint by Asraf at the Beersheba police accounts, and if he would have filed a complaint it would be handled appropriately,” says an official statement by Beersheba Police.
Regarding Asraf’s proposal to work as an agent, police says that “since this relates to intelligence aspects that include the matter of personal privacy and immunity, we cannot comment at this time.”
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From the Liveblog of
Monday, April 6, 2015
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