Tel Aviv Magistrate Court Judge Vijdan Khalil extended by four days the detention of Muhammad Zeid, a 34-year-old homeless man, on suspicion of setting fire to Ben-Gurion's statue on the promenade. According to the police, the photo is from his escape route and there is an eyewitness to the case.
During the holiday, on Saturday morning, the statue of David Ben-Gurion was set on fire on Bograshov Beach in Tel Aviv, a few hours later, after receiving pictures from security cameras, Zeid was arrested after he was seen running away from the promenade. When Zeid was arrested for his clothes, there was apparently soot and the clothes were seized and taken for laboratory testing.
Zeid's defense attorney argued at the hearing that no substantive investigative actions were carried out in the case and that there are no photographs in the investigation file of him setting fire to the statue. "The fact that we are on this holiday still does not mean that it is possible to infringe on a person's freedom and not to carry out actions just because of certain priorities. In my opinion, apart from his being on the beach, which he does not deny, there is nothing that complicates him beyond that, there is no evidence and even in the photos shown to him he is not seen setting fire or walking around with ignition material or similar things," said defense attorney Ashraf Aburazeq, adding: "As we all know, the beach is not a lonely place, especially the beaches of the city of Tel Aviv, and I believe that if the suspect really did commit it, there were eyewitnesses. We are in an era where everyone has cell phones, the footage would have already been uploaded to social networks, and the fact is that the reports were opened with the statue being set on fire, I am sure that if there had been such a video, it would have already been in the hands of the investigating unit."
Judge Khalil extended the suspect's detention by four days and he will be transferred for an initial psychiatric examination during his detention. The judge noted in her decision that there is reasonable suspicion against the suspect of committing the offenses attributed to him, at a sufficient level required at this stage of the proceeding, including the suspect's own statement.
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