YWN Avreich Imprisoned in Holland Heads for Home

The 28-year-old avreich imprisoned in Holland for ‘forging’ his passport has been released by authorities. He arrived back in Eretz Yisrael on Tuesday, 2 Iyar 5772, about two weeks after his ordeal began. The court ruled that despite recent similar cases in which passports were modified, and those defendants spent four months in jail, the court will be satisfied with time served and the case was dismissed. The court realized that despite the severity of the avreich’s actions, he was naïve and innocent, and his intentions were not of malicious intent. Defense attorney Mordechai Tzivin praised the court and authorities, citing his client was treated very fairly and his conditions were above reproach. He also issued a warning to Israelis to refrain from making any changes whatsoever to official documents for doing so may make them suspects of terrorism or hostile activity against another nation. (YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)