Relative of Bar Noar suspect accused of rape
Man claims sex was consensual and that the woman, a lawyer, filed the complaint as revenge for refusing to add her to Haggai Felician’s defense team
A 25-year-old relative of Haggai Felician, who is the state’s prime suspect in the 2009 Bar Noar shooting, was accused on Friday of raping a Petah Tikva lawyer.
The man was arrested and brought to the Petah Tikva Magistrate’s Court, where a judge extended his remand by five days.
The man’s lawyer said the suspect and plaintiff had consensual sex and that the alleged victim had filed the complaint as revenge for his client’s refusal to bring her on to his relative’s defense team in the high profile murder case.
According to the suspect’s lawyer, the two met at the suspect’s warehouse and he began giving her a back rub. He said the massage led to a sexual encounter and the plaintiff left the warehouse in good spirits.
“After examining the remand request and the classified investigation material shown me, I am convinced that there is sufficient reason to suspect that the man had indeed done the actions he’s accused of,” the judge countered.
The police are reportedly in possession of security camera footage that recorded parts of the incident.
The 2009 shooting at the Bar Noar gay youth club left two people dead and 11 injured. The investigation into the attack has been one of the most expensive in recent history, with authorities questioning over 1,000 people.
