"Closed due to lack of public interest" is how the Jerusalem
Police Department disposed of the affair of Roman Kagan, a
security guard from Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak's One
Israel party who posed as a policeman and "protected" a
voting poll in Jerusalem's Beis Yisroel neighborhood.
On election day, UTJ activists discovered that a uniformed
"policeman" manning a polling station in the chareidi
neighborhood of Beis Yisroel, where the Mir Yeshiva is
located, was really a security guard stationed there by One
Israel as part of its extensive campaign to place guards in
all chareidi neighborhood voting polls. This particular guard
caused a series of scuffles in the poll and even examined the
identify cards of every person who came to vote, something
which only real policemen are authorized to do. When
complaints were made about the delays at the poll, his
identity was investigated and his fraud revealed.
Posing as a policeman is a felony. However, the Jerusalem
Police Department, which initially detained the guard, Roman
Kagan, for investigation in the wake of the complaint filed
by UTJ, concluded that there was no need to further pursue
the complaint. The Police Department claimed that this was
due to a "lack of public interest." It then closed the case.
The stated official reason for closing the case was:
"Circumstances do not justify a continuation of the
investigation."
Chareidi public figures consider this to be a very serious
issue, since charges of supposed fraud in chareidi voting
polls are always publicly as well as thoroughly investigated.
In this case, on the other hand, a person who posed as a
policeman and disrupted the order in a chareidi neighborhood
polling station of was released and not brought to trial
because of "a lack of public interest in the case."
Observers noted that the apparent lack of fair treatment in
this case does not enhance the public's respect for the
integrity of the prosecutorial system of the State.
