High Court gives AG Sunday deadline on Arab MK probe limits

Court gives AG Sunday deadline on MK probe

Justice Ruth Ronen orders Liba organization to update the court by Sunday whether Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has responded to its petitions regarding alleged restrictions on investigating Arab MKs and their aides in the election interference affair. A decision on the petition will follow.

The High Court of Justice issued its first ruling today (Thursday) in a petition filed by the Liba organization against Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, following alleged restrictions she placed on the investigation of Arab MKs and their aides in the case involving suspected election bribery and foreign interference in the elections to the 26th Knesset.

Justice Ruth Ronen ruled that the Liba organization must update the court by this coming Sunday whether the Attorney General has responded to its petitions submitted earlier this week. A decision on how to proceed with the petition will be made after that.

The ruling came after the organization petitioned the Attorney General demanding that the Shin Bet and police be allowed to investigate the MKs and their aides without restrictions not anchored in law. According to the organization, the Attorney General has refused to respond to its petitions while simultaneously imposing requirements on investigative bodies that prevent them from advancing the probe.

The petition, filed through attorneys Yitzhak Bam and Avishag Schwartz, argues that even MKs themselves have no immunity from criminal investigation, and certainly not their parliamentary aides. It further argues that the requirement to present evidence to the Attorney General as a condition for investigation contradicts the law, court rulings, and the guidelines of the Attorney General himself.

The Liba organization stated: "The Attorney General and her people are obstructing the investigation into election manipulation, exactly as they obstructed the investigation of the prosecutor, and are preventing at the most critical time the clarification of the truth and the collection of evidence. We expect the court to instruct the Attorney General as soon as possible to act according to the law."