An Israeli court in Jerusalem ordered the release of American journalist Jeremy Loffredo after he was detained for four days by Israeli police. Loffredo had been accused of revealing the locations where Iranian missiles struck during an early October attack on Israel, in a YouTube video.
Loffredo works for the U.S.-based news outlet The Grayzone, known for its left-leaning perspectives, according to a report by Haaretz. The report also stated that Loffredo was questioned “on suspicion of providing information to the enemy and assisting during wartime.”
Although the Jerusalem court ordered his release, Loffredo was banned from leaving Israel for the next nine days.
Loffredo was arrested last Tuesday after his video report on YouTube showed the missile strike locations, including areas near sensitive Israeli security sites like Nevatim Airbase and the Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv.
His lawyer, Lea Tsemel, argued that the footage shown in the video was based on publicly available sources, including a report from PBS, the American public broadcasting service. She told the court that “anyone intending to help the enemy during wartime wouldn’t publish such information while in Israel.”
Initially, a Jerusalem magistrate extended Loffredo’s detention by one day, but in a later hearing, Judge Zion Sarari ordered his release. This decision followed a Ynet report by journalist Liran Tamari, stating that Israeli military censors had approved the release of Loffredo’s video as part of their own coverage of the arrest.
Israeli police appealed the release, citing Loffredo’s refusal to grant investigators access to his phone, but the court dismissed the appeal.
