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Noam Federman, former Kach spokesman, is suspected of planning terror attacks against Palestinians, but no charges have been brought against him.
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| By Ellis Shuman March 18, 2004 |
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Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz yesterday extended the administrative detention of Noam Federman, right-wing activist and former spokesman for the outlawed Kach party, by six months. Federman is being held at Shikma Prison on suspicion of planning terror attacks against Palestinians, but no charges have been brought against him. Federman's supporters said he is being held "without proof, evidence or trial."
This morning, the words "Free Noam Federman" were spray-painted on the walls of the Defense Ministry in Jerusalem. Right-wing extremists announced that they plan to paint graffiti lambasting Mofaz throughout the country in the coming days, ynet reported.
Federman has been held in administrative detention for the past six months. Security officials yesterday presented Mofaz with evidence showing that even while being held in prison, Federman has been inciting violence against Palestinians.
Federman is suspected of being the mastermind of the Jewish "underground," which planned to bomb an Arab girls school in east Jerusalem in 2002. According to media reports, Federman provided the Jewish settlers involved in the planned bombing with explosives, but no charges were brought against him.
Federman has been frequently arrested and called in for questioning by the Police and the Shin Bet. Charges have been filed against him some 45 times, though only 8 ended in convictions. Police suspect that bombs that exploded in Federman's wife's car in Kiryat Arba in 2001 actually belonged to him, and were not planted there in a Palestinian terror attack.
In the past, Federman has called for taking revenge against Arabs, encouraging settlers to go out and fight. "You should know that if the IDF does not protect you, you must protect yourselves, you must go out and shoot," Federman told residents of Beit El.
Last week Federman, a father of seven, launched a hunger strike in protest of the conditions of his incarceration. His 12-year-old daughter, Yiscah, phoned the defense minister's office and asked to speak to Mofaz, Army Radio reported. After she had was told he was in the middle of a meeting, she was transferred to one of his aides, whom she told, "I know you want to do everything you can to break my father. But know this, my six brothers and I are continuing in my father's path."
In response to the extended detention order, Federman's associates said, "All government ministers, and especially Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, would not be able to say 'our hands did not spill this blood,' as the defense minister throws Federman to prison without any proof, evidence or trial. We promise we will do everything in our power against this prime minister and government of betrayal," they said, according to a report in Maariv.
In December, MK Zahava Gal-On (Meretz) said, "If the police have evidence against him, he should be indicted, but if not, he must be freed. It is shameful that I, head of [left-wing] Meretz, have to demand the release of [right-wing] Federman," she said.
In November, rabbis from the Yesha Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip stated that the "idiotic and futile political use of administrative detention in the name of security, whereby a person is prevented from standing trial, and without evidence, counters Jewish law, justice and fundamental integrity." The rabbis added, "Should proof be found against him, he should be put on trial with the same rights accorded to every citizen in the State of Israel."
Right-wing activists have recently organized a public campaign to secure Federman's release. Lobbyists on his behalf have demonstrated in front of Mofaz's home and outside the Shikma Prison. Last week, over 200 activists demonstrated for his release in front of the High Court of Justice building in Jerusalem.
Federman has petitioned the High Court repeatedly to protest detention orders that he called "illegal." The court rejected the petitions after reviewing classified security information in closed door sessions.
Last week, Federman reportedly scuffled with imprisoned nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu in the Shikma Prison, after Federman labeled Vanunu a "traitor."
"It appears that a possibility of exposing Israel's nuclear secrets by Vanunu is less dangerous than releasing Noam Federman," Federman's associates said.
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