Convicted and banned from leaving the country - so he swam to Jordan

Yuri Komar from Ashdod, who was convicted and banned from leaving Israel, first tried to exit to Jordan through the Rabin border crossing and was stopped, then entered the sea and swam to Aqaba without being detected by Israeli observation posts. He was held in custody in Jordan for two weeks, then transferred to Israel. Police requested a three-day extension of his detention to complete investigative actions, but the judge expressed doubt whether an offense of violating a legal order had actually been committed. Komar claims he was swept away to Jordan.

Yuri Komar from Ashdod, who was convicted and banned from leaving Israel, first tried to exit to Jordan through the Rabin border crossing and was stopped. He then entered the sea and swam to Aqaba, without being detected by Israeli observation posts. He was found in possession of a large sum of money, but claims: "I was swept away." After two weeks in custody in Jordan, Komar was handed over to Israel. Eilat police investigators brought him to a detention extension hearing at the city's Magistrate's Court, to clarify the circumstances in which he illegally crossed the border. The detention request argued that Komar left Israel illegally and in violation of a ban on leaving the country. Investigators sought to complete several additional investigative actions, so police requested a three-day extension of his detention. It was also argued that Komar might disrupt the investigation. However, the judge wrote: "Regarding the offense of violating a legal order, I doubt whether such an offense was actually committed." The decision also stated: "As emerges from the evidence in the case, the suspect swam from the Eilat beach to the state of Jordan, where he was held in custody for two weeks and only recently returned to the country." Komar also claimed that during his stay in Jordan, the Eilat municipality towed his car from where he had parked it to a storage lot.