המודיע: ר' מ"ד נידערמאן גוט'ער שליח

Rabbi Moshe Dovid Niederman in Chiba, conferring with Shunji Miyake, the lead attorney for Yoel Zev Goldstein, during a break in his testimony last year.

By Yochonon Donn

CHIBA, Japan – Yoel Zev Goldstein yesterday met with one of his askanim, who weighed his belongings to make sure that when he is released to Israel, he would not have excess luggage preventing his speedy departure.

Aron Nezri of London arranged for Yoel Zev’s tefillin to be returned; all his possessions were removed from the Chiba detention center upon his acquittal on Monday and placed in his temporary residence at the Tokyo Immigration Police headquarters. He will be there until his final release.

Clouding the excitement over the verdict - the only not guilty verdict among the three Israeli yeshivah bachurim arrested three years ago when drugs were discovered in their suitcases - was the possibility of the prosecutor appealing to the Tokyo High Court.

The government has until Sept. 12 to file an intent to appeal. That would keep Yoel Zev in Japan for many months, although under far better circumstances than he had been held since his arrest on April 3, 2008. There is no indication at this point whether they are planning to appeal, although it is a common practice in Japan.

Meilech Bindinger from Antwerp, who has devoted hundreds of hours to the case along with Rabbi Nezri, said that defense attorney Shunji Miyake submitted yesterday to the Immigration Police a document outlining the events that led to the arrest, in the hope they would release him sooner.

However, the police have not yet opened an investigation, which would be the first of three steps to allowing Yoel Zev to go.

Yoel Zev greeted his father and Rabbi Nezri with a handshake - a significant change from the past three years when he was allowed no physical contact with the outside world. The simple gesture was emblematic of the acquittal on Monday afternoon by a three-judge court panel. He had faced a harsher than usual 15 years due to his age - he was 22 at his arrest.

The verdict capped an extraordinary year-long trial that began in July 2010, and took several unexpected twists - including a replacement of the presiding judge who was considered harsh by international standards.

Judge Masanori Hadoko, who replaced Hiroshi Furuto in mid-trial, announced the verdict from his Chiba District courtroom at 1:30 p.m. Japan time (12:30 a.m. Monday EST). Yoel Zev’s father attended, as did two askanim who had been tirelessly involved, Rabbi Nezri and Rabbi Bindinger, along with several other concerned people.

Mr. Hadoko had allowed the trial to be extended by several months last year in order for the defense to bring additional witnesses and evidence, something Mr. Furuta had made clear he would not permit.

Rabbi Nezri and Rabbi Bindinger visited with Yoel Zev in his Chiba detention center immediately prior to the verdict announcement.

As soon as the judges entered the courtroom at 1:30 sharp, Mr. Hadoko motioned to Yoel Zev to rise to the podium and said a short sentence in Japanese.

“Atah zakai - you are innocent,” the Hebrew translator interpreted his words, sending a shiver of exhilaration, relief and excitement through the courtroom.

The askanim and attorneys exchanged restrained waves and smiles of relief and Yoel Zev responded with a smile.

While the askanim were anticipating this conclusion, two disappointments in the past - with Yaakov Yosef Grunwald’s guilty verdict and rejection of his appeal - gave them pause.

“Upon hearing these words, Yoel Zev’s father, ourselves, and other Yidden with us, shed tears of jubilation,” Rabbi Bindinger emailed to Hamodia. “The relief is indescribable.”

Rabbis Nezri and Bindinger issued a statement shortly after the news of Yoel Zev’s vindication was announced.

“We congratulate the Japanese judiciary for diligently seeking the truth, and carefully analyzing the many diverse element of defense - many of which are new concepts to the Japanese - and thereby succeeded in delivering the long-awaited innocent verdict,”they wrote.

Mr. Hadoko then spent close to two hours to explain his decision, crediting Rabbi Moshe Dovid Niederman, who runs United Jewish Services of Williamsburg, with providing him with a clear explanation of the insular Satmar and Bnei Brak communities.

Orthodox Jews, Mr. Hadoko noted in his verdict, do not have recreational venues similar to the secular world, and their low crime rate insulates them from knowledge of drugs.

The Satmar philosophy prohibits the use of Modern Hebrew, which led to Yoel Zev’s misunderstanding the contemporary use of the word samim as “poison” rather than “drugs.”

Rabbi Niederman told Hamodia yesterday that the focus of his testimony last year was to deflect the prosecutor’s assertion that it was impossible Yoel Zev was not familiar with drugs.

“They wanted someone to explain that you could live in the melting pot and still be isolated,” Rabbi Niederman said. He added that he was grateful “to be able to be the shaliach” for the good news.

The judge said that he took into account the expert testimony of Michael Levine, a 40-year veteran of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, who asserted that trying the “blind mules,” the unimportant, uninitiated couriers, was in effect a victory for the drug kingpins.

“I am ecstatic,” Mr. Levine emailed to Hamodia yesterday. “My wife and I are celebrating the victory right now at dinner.

“... I never accept a case unless I believe my client is innocent, as I did with Mr. Goldstein. Sometimes a belief in one’s client’s innocence is a burden. This time it was a vindication.”

Mr. Hadoko said that he grew convinced that the $1,000 given in payment to each of the three boys for transporting the illegal contents “was not reflective of remuneration of a witting mule.”

He countered the prosecutor’s argument that if Yoel Zev would have truly believed that the contents were antiques, he ought to have questioned why the goods were not being shipped by courier.

Mr. Hadoko said he agreed with the defense that in the close-knit Jewish community it is common practice for such errands to be requested and graciously accepted.

He also credited Hebrew University’s Professor Gershon Ben-Shakhar, who testified for Yaakov Yosef’s unsuccessful appeal, that the results of polygraph examination proved lack of knowledge.

Mr. Ben-Shakhar told Hamodia that he was disappointed that the High Court did not accept his arguments, but he feels vindicated that his trip to Japan helped Yoel Zev.

“I have always believed that the three boys were indeed innocent victims who had no idea of what they are carrying,” Mr. Ben-Shakhar said. “Personally, it ... somewhat compensates me after the frustration I faced when I heard the Tokyo high court’s verdict in the case of Yaakov Yosef - a verdict I still don’t understand.”

Mr. Hadoko apologized in the name of the Ministry of Justice for the protracted trial procedure, saying he was sorry that it had taken so long to deliver a not-guilty verdict.

Following the court procedure, Yoel Zev’s father recited an emotional brachah of Hatov V’hametiv.

This was followed by a quick succession of handshakes and congratulations among Yoel Zev, the defense attorneys, the askanim, and onlookers.

Yoel Zev was then escorted from the courtroom flanked by two officials from the Tokyo Immigration Office, where all his clothing and personal belongings were transferred.