Judge Fallah of the Haifa Magistrate's Court discusses the journalists' organization's request regarding the publication ban • The order was revoked, but the interrogation methods, investigating factors and materials coming from the investigating authority are not allowed to be published.
Haifa Magistrate's Court Judge Dr. Zaid Falah today (Tuesday) ordered a reduction in the publication ban order issued yesterday on the investigation of the tar disaster off the coast of Israel. The judge ruled that nothing should be published about the interrogation methods, investigators and materials from the investigating authority and any details In the Investigation Authority, on the other hand, he allowed the publication of any detail that originated in an independent investigation by the media and not in the Investigation Authority.
Tar pollution at Nitzanim Beach // Photo: The Green Police of the Ministry of Environmental Protection
The order was reduced at the request of "Israel Today" and other media outlets that petitioned against the ban on publication.
In addition, it was forbidden to publish the names of the other ships that were in the area, except for the Greek ship whose name has already been published in recent days.
Yesterday, the order was issued at the request of the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
"About a week ago, the State of Israel was hit by a very serious pollution incident that the state knew about by the discharge of tar from the sea along the coastal strip," Judge Falah said.
"This pollution has severely damaged the flora, fauna and ecosystems of the Mediterranean coasts. It is undisputed that the investigating authorities should be allowed to exhaust the investigation to the end in order to bring the criminal responsibility to justice."
Falah added: "Yesterday I was asked to impose a cap on all the details of the affair and after reviewing the memorandum that was submitted to me I gave the request. The public's right to know is a constitutional right that is a cornerstone of a democratic regime. This right can not be revoked. The right to a limited and defined period of time, also only in exceptional and rare cases. In the case before me, the details of the event were published in public, and the request for the release of the ZAP was submitted to me only yesterday, about a week after the tar event began. ".
"After considering all the considerations, I instruct as follows: The order is void. I prohibit publication regarding the interrogation methods, investigators and materials coming from the investigating authority, and any detail originating from the investigative authority.