Justice Ministry Press Release

Jerusalem, 13 February 2013

(Unofficial translation from authoritative Hebrew version, Communicated by
the Justice Ministry Spokesman):

In the Central District Court

Other Applications 13 / Serious Crime Case 8493-03-10

Before Hon. Deputy Presiding Judge Avraham Tal

Petitioner: State of Israel

- Versus -

Respondent: “John Doe”

By way of Attorney Roi Belcher and/or Attorney Moshe Mazur and Attorney Boaz
Ben-Tzur

Second Agreed-Upon Request to Reduce Scope of Gag Order

A request is hereby submitted to reduce the scope of the gag order that was
issued on 4 March 2010 by Presiding Judge Hila Gerstel. This is at the
request of the petitioner and with the consent of the representative of the
respondent, such that the following details be permitted for publication:

1. In the context of this affair, Presiding Judge Hila Gerstel issued
several gag orders that were detailed in the petitioner's request, which was
heard and decided on 13 February 2013.

2. Similarly, in the framework of a coroner’s inquest into causes of death
(hereinafter: “coroner’s inquest”), Hon. Presiding Judge Dafna
Blatman-Kadrei, on 16 December 2010, issued a gag order on the proceedings
of the aforesaid coroner’s inquest, for a period of 90 days, which has been
periodically extended (attached to this Request).

3. On 19 December 2012, in the framework of a hearing in which it was
decided to end the proceedings of the aforesaid coroner’s inquest, Hon.
Presiding Judge Dafna Blatman-Kadrei ordered that the gag order on the
coroner’s inquest on this matter be extended for 180 days (attached to this
Request).

4. Following consideration of the overall interests involved, regarding both
the interests of security and the public's right to know, and in light of
the media reports from the last few hours, the petitioner requests
permission to publish the following:

The Prison Service detained a prisoner who held both Israeli and foreign
citizenship. For security reasons, the prisoner was held under an alias;
however, his family was immediately notified of his detention and he was
represented, in all proceedings in his regard, by attorneys Roi Belcher,
Moshe Mazur and Boaz Ben-Tzur. The prisoner was held in prison pursuant to
an arrest warrant that had been issued by the authorized court. Proceedings
regarding the prisoner were overseen by the most senior Justice Ministry
officials and the prisoner's individual rights were maintained, according to
law.

The prisoner was found dead in his cell approximately two years ago.
Subsequently, Hon. Judge Dafna Blatman-Kadrei, President of the Rishon
Lezion Magistrates Court, held a coroner’s inquest into the cause of death,
in accordance with the 1958 Coroner’s Inquest into Causes of Death Law. An
order was issued that the hearing be held behind closed doors. This order is
still in force.

Pursuant to her broad inquest, approximately one-and-a-half months ago, a
decision was issued regarding the coroner’s inquest into the cause of death,
from which it arises that this was suicide. However, the Presiding Judge
sent the file to the State Attorney's Office for an evaluation regarding
issues of negligence.

In all proceedings conducted on the matter, including the coroner’s inquest
into the cause of death, the deceased and his family were represented by the
aforementioned attorneys.

Beyond this, additional details about the affair may not be published, for
reasons of state security. These security issues were examined by the
Central District Court which decided to issue a sweeping gag order on the
affair. This order was issued at the request of the security authorities,
which was approved by the relevant Justice Ministry officials.

An appeal to the Supreme Court against this order by the Association for
Civil Rights has been withdrawn by the Association pursuant to the
recommendation of the Supreme Court.

5. Regarding the aforesaid gag orders, permission is hereby requested from
the Court for publication of that stated in paragraph 4 above and to order
that beyond this the standing gag orders remain in force.

6. The representatives of the respondent gave their full consent to this
request and to its publication.

13 February 2013

Orli Ben-Ari Ginsburg, Attorney

Deputy Attorney for the Central District