Jeremy Loffredo, a U.S. citizen, was taken into custody on suspicion of “assisting an enemy in war” for his reporting on Iran’s missile attack.

Israeli police had held Loffredo, an independent journalist from New York, on suspicion of assisting an enemy in war, a serious allegation that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment or death, Tsemel said. The allegations stem from his reporting for American media outlet The Grayzone, which showed the locations of several Iranian missiles launched at military targets inside Israel earlier this month, including footage near Nevatim, an Israeli air base, and the Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv, Tsemel said. Though the same targets were featured in broadcasts by other media outlets, Israeli authorities tried to argued that Loffredo’s reporting allowed Iran to study future targets.

Loffredo’s detainment, which drew little attention from Western media, comes amid an unprecedented year of Israel targeting journalists who are covering its war in Gaza. At least 126 journalists have been killed by Israeli forces since October 7, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. At least five of those journalists were specifically targeted by Israel for their work, CPJ said, as it investigates the killing of 10 others. And in the West Bank, CPJ documented 69 journalist arrests during the war, with 43 remaining in Israeli custody. Last month, an Israeli lawmaker requested Israeli police charge the head of human rights group B’Tselem, Yuli Novak, with the same charge aimed at Loffredo, after Novak provided an expert review before the United Nations Security Council.

Israeli judges overseeing Loffredo’s case had been skeptical of arguments to keep him jailed, Tsemel said. When police had requested a seven-day detention from the court, a judge ordered a one-day detention. Then, on Thursday, a separate judge had ordered his release, Tsemel said. An Israeli journalist with Ynet News had testified that Loffredo’s reporting did not violate the government’s censor and pointed to other similar reports. But authorities were able to file a last-minute appeal before court had closed, keeping Loffredo in custody.

During a hearing on Friday before a district court judge over the appeal, a judge ordered Loffredo’s release, after citing a lack of evidence and that he doesn’t pose a threat, Tsemel said.

  • Keeponstalin@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    112·
    22 days ago

    Here are the details about the arrest itself:

    During the arrest, the IDF forced the group to sit in the sun on the side of the road for more than an hour, Gorodskoy said, adding that at one point, their driver said he could not be exposed to the sun for long periods due to a medical condition. The soldiers proceeded to taunt the man, yelling “Vitamin D is good for you,” mockingly asking if he wanted sunscreen, and threw a water bottle at him, shouting “Drink!” in Arabic, Gorodskoy recalled.

    The soldiers then zip-tied their hands, placed them in blindfolds, and shoved them into the cramped space of a military vehicle, which drove them to a military base. During their drive, Gorodskoy said, soldiers yelled insults at the group. “They were yelling horrific things … like how we should’ve been erased on October 7th and that it was our fault,” Gorodskoy said.

    At the base, soldiers cuffed their wrists and ankles and were told they were being held on suspicion of incitement. Soldiers denied their multiple requests for a lawyer, Gorodskoy said. After six hours, the group was released without charge, except for Loffredo, who was placed inside a holding cell. He was eventually transferred to an Israeli prison.

    • shaserlark@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      4·
      22 days ago

      Imagine this coming from Russia (which I’m sure they’d also do). I’ve always been very critical and oftentimes shocked by the atrocities that the west and western backed allies committed. But the Gaza genocide and everything around it, the gaslighting, the propaganda, the level of violence and the manufactured consent, we’re entering fascism.

      It’s not like Nazi Germany yet where randos like shaserlark will disappear for criticizing the government, but we already established that we’re willing to deny human rights to our enemies. We will kill them, all of them and all of their families without thinking twice.

      When it comes to our own, we will make them disappear if they’re important enough, see Assange or Snowden. Assange is out but he’s done. Snowden probably will die in exile. As for the normal people, they get denied their right to protest. Or they get beaten up and arrested on bogus charges. They get harassed at home. Climate / pro Palestine activists will end up in jail.

      We’re not there yet where I will disappear for saying this, but at the current pace we’re only a couple decades away from it, if even.