The Affi Naveh Affair and the Border Crossings: The Lod Center District Court rejects Naveh's appeal as well as the State's appeal (Reuven Castro)
The Lod Center District Court on Sunday rejected the appeal of former Bar Association chairman Efi Naveh and the state's appeal in the crossings affair. Therefore, the sentence of Naveh and his partner, Bar Katz, will remain suspended imprisonment and a fine. The decision is not expected to affect Naveh's candidacy for the head of the Bar Association because there is no disgrace in the offense.
Naveh said as he left the court: "We will appeal the decision. I can be justice minister today, and even if the chamber's election committee decides to disgrace me, we will appeal it to the court." His lawyer added: "This is a decision that is difficult to accept when we are dealing with an administrative offense in its essence, in which even in more serious cases of refusals to enter the country, including for money, lenient rulings were given even without a conviction."
Last November, the Rishon LeZion Magistrate's Court sentenced Naveh to two months' probation and a NIS 2,000 fine after he was convicted of smuggling his partner at Ben Gurion Airport. According to the verdict, on September 20, 2018, Naveh flew with his partner, Bar Katz, from Israel to Thailand, while the latter did not present a passport and transit permit as required. This was done in order to hide their trip together, due to the divorce dispute in which Naveh was located. To this end, the two worked to prevent his spouse from going through passport control, so that their stay abroad would not be documented.
Efi Naveh and Bar Katz (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Naveh's girlfriend, who graduated from law school, passed through a gate-pass issued especially for him, and thus did not pass through passport control. When they returned to Israel, she questioned the two in Kiryat about their actions, and they denied their acquaintance. They were later detained for further investigation, which later led to a police investigation.
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