Modesty Brigade in Beitar • "Looking for the Mayor"

Arrest of suspects on the Modest Brigade case in Beitar Illit - Nissim Gonen Hadad and Ezra Devora - extended yesterday in Magistrate's Court in Rishon Lezion until Sunday. The two, residents of Betar Illit in their 30s, are suspected of assault causing injury, kidnapping, and false imprisonment under the pretext of maintaining the religious character of the city.

Police sought extension of six days, and the judge granted in part, and extended his detention until Sunday at 12:00 – Purim.

Attorney Liah Plus, representing the suspects, said during the hearing that the allegedly the purpose of interrogation is Mayor Meir Rubinstein. "If there is here somewhere, and in my opinion there is, an attempt to exert pressure indirectly on certain elements so that this investigative unit will be able to put their hand on anyone else, and we all know who it is - and it was released yesterday.

"In my view it is of the utmost importance that the court will be aware of it and take it in to consideration for the needs of investigation, that they can provide details about the mayor?"

Following the lawyers question, the judge asked the police representative why the suspect was questioned to date on things already investigated. To that he responded: "One of them started new things, as Hadad was hard to move him, he keeps silent, and for other suspect we did not manage it all."

The lawyer said about Devora: "The suspect has not attempted to hide anything. He is not related to violent crimes, economic crimes; they are trying to connect him to a senior and high-ranking position in Beitar Illit." Concerning Hadad she said that he chose to remain silent because the questions have already been presented to him in previous investigations, and he does not want to mess them up. She added that it is strange that so far he has not been investigated on the new cases.

In a conversation with B'Chadrei Charedim the lawyer said: "The police claim that the mayor allegedly had groups that were subject to him, acted in a manner which claims city police, and made sure to pay their salaries through all kinds of ways."

• So why are they arrested and the mayor is not?
"To arrest the mayor we must have more than soft suspicions. This is the proof of the fact that not everyone is equal before the law. One of the suspects, Nissim Gonen Hadad, has been studied previously for the same offenses attributed to him by the police and nothing has been done about it."

• How will the investigation end?

"We are at the beginning of the investigation and it is hard to know."

The mayor is calm

However, Beitar Illit Mayor Meir Rubinstein had yesterday again to stay long hours at Lod fraud investigations unit, where he was questioned under caution on suspicion of involvement in the affair.

Attorney Ariel Atari, representing the mayor, said in an interview with B'Chadrei Charedim: "We have no doubt that the case against him will be closed for lack of guilt."

According to the police, Meir Rubinstein paid municipal youth centers, so that they will commit the crimes against them. "These people were municipal employees for all purposes," says Atari, "as part of their municipality, they were responsible for the rehabilitation of youth in the city, and they did their job reliably. What they did out of the city? The Mayor should not have control over that."

Atari said that the municipality recently invested funds to build rehabilitation trails for marginal youth and repeated: "All what the youth centers have done on behalf of the municipality was dine according to law. Imagine an employee in the Jerusalem municipality, who beats a boy in the street, will anyone hold Nir Barkat responsible?"

The fact that this is the second time that Rubinstein was investigated does not lower or higher anything. "This is nothing unusual," says Atari. "Israeli police investigators invite people multiple times for questioning. The Mayor feels relaxed and his hands are totally clean."
• How will the affair end?

"I have no doubt that the case against the mayor will be closed for lack of guilt, I do not want to relate to the rest involved, because I do not represent them."

• Meir Rubinstein also feels at ease from the fact that the media deals with the case?

"Everywhere, unfortunately, ultra-Orthodox people are suspected of a crime, the general media tends to intensify things. In this case, things are probably not different."

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!