Israeli judge orders suspect released in election bribery investigation

A judge in Beersheba ordered the release of Saif Abu Riash, a doctor arrested in the investigation linked to the Arab Ra’am party. Judge Eran Tzabari said the reasonable suspicion against him had not strengthened and might even have weakened, Ynetnews reported.

The court placed a second suspect under house arrest and extended the detention of a third until 3 November. Ynetnews reported that the judge ordered Abu Riash released without conditions. The Associated Press later reported that police said he had been released under unspecified conditions.

Police arrested the three men in southern Israel around the time of the 27 October election on suspicion of attempting to pay people to vote for Ra’am. Officers said searches of their homes uncovered envelopes containing tens of thousands of shekels and ballot slips. Police alleged the money was intended for voters, but the discovery itself does not establish that it was used for bribery.

On 30 October, Haaretz reported that no evidence had been found of an attempt to bribe voters. Ynet separately quoted police sources as saying that no substantial evidence had yet been assembled in the case. A lawyer for two of the suspects told Ynet they denied the allegations and said the money was intended for poor families.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party cited the discovery to allege an attempt to steal the election. Israel’s Central Elections Committee has said there is no indication that votes were falsified or voters bribed, according to Ynetnews. The court’s decisions on the suspects’ detention are not findings of guilt or innocence.