A soldier serving as an Iron Dome fighter was detained on suspicion of giving a false statement that two members of minorities attacked him with a knife and tried to snatch his weapon near the Trans-Samaria checkpoint, so he fired shots.
Police officers from the Rosh HaAyin police station were called to the Trans-Samaria checkpoint last night following reports of shootings. When they arrived, they saw a soldier on active duty. He claimed that he fired after two minorities attacked him and tried to snatch his weapon. The officers did not believe his version and he was taken to the police station. During the interrogation, he admitted that he fabricated the story of the hijacking.
The Iron Dome system, photo: Dudu Greenspan
The soldier was brought to the Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court on Monday for a hearing. Police representative Maj. Yaniv Hindi said at the hearing: "This is a suspect who gave a false statement about an attempted kidnapping. He was interrogated and eventually admitted that he had lied. There are findings on the ground that he fired shots." The police representative added that the investigation is being conducted in coordination with the Military Police Investigation Unit.
Judge Limor Khaled-Ron decided to place the soldier under house arrest for four days at his mother's home in Petah Tikva. In her decision, she stated: "The suspect was arrested on suspicion of committing the offense of providing false information. The suspect, a regular soldier, allegedly coordinated an attempt to grab his weapon, which he suspected never was."
Attorney Benjamin Malka, the suspect's defense attorney, said in response: "Fortunately, already in the first request to extend the suspect's detention, the court ordered his release, in light of the defense's arguments and the suspect's version. It is unclear why the suspect was brought to court for an extension of his detention, but as stated, the court gave its decision unequivocally."
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