Israel Detains And Accuses US Journalist Of 'Aiding The Enemy'

Freelancer and Grayzone contributor Jeremy Loffredo was released from detention but barred from leaving the country

An Israeli district court ordered Israeli security forces to release American journalist Jeremy Loffredo from detention. 

The police accused Loffredo of “aiding the enemy during wartime” and “providing information to the enemy” and appealed a prior court decision to grant him bail. That appeal was denied.

As reported by the Seventh Eye, an Israeli independent news publication, Loffredo had refused to allow the police to access his phone. Security forces managed to break into the phone in the past 24 hours. An Israeli police official urged the court to extend Loffredo’s detention so that they could examine the phone and collect data that would show that Loffredo committed a crime. 

Judge Chana Miriam Lomp rejected this request. However, the Israeli authorities were permitted to keep Loffredo’s passport and phone, and he was barred from leaving the country until October 20. In the meantime, the Israeli police may attempt to manufacture a case against Loffredo. 

According to Israeli news site Ynet, Loffredo was arrested by security forces on “suspicion of endangering national security after reporting on where missiles landed in the attack launched by Iran earlier this month including in the [Israeli military’s] Nevatim Air Base” and the Mossad headquarters, the country’s spy agency.

Read more at The Dissenter here and here.