Israel prosecutes Arab knesset member

Adalah – the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel notified Knesset member Said Naffaa that the Nazareth District Court set the date for his trial on January 10, knowing that he did not yet receive a formal indictment. The general prosecution submitted the indictment to court, last week, attached to a press statement, only thirty minutes after notifying Adalah center with its intentions to do so. “In my experience as an attorney who pleaded in several criminal cases, I never encountered such promptness. How is it that I did not receive a formal indictment until now? The usual approach is that after submitting the indictment to court, the court sends the indictment to the defendant by registered mail,” said MK Naffaa to ‘Arabstoday’, explaining that usually the defendant is given a few weeks to prepare his defense, after signing a document which is returned to court, proving that he received the indictment by mail. “I was surprised today by a telephone call from Adalah center notifying me of the court date, which the center knew from the prosecutor, not the court, and by coincidence! However, I repeat, according to the law, I should be directly notified. Adalah represented me in the hearings, but does not necessarily represent me in court, thus I should be [personally] addressed, which did not happen,” he added. He stated that he assigned Adalah, by power of attorney, to request the postponement of the trial date until he receives the indictment and studies it. Lawyer Orna Kohen did file for postponement, however, until now, the court did not respond.