For almost 30 years the Samir Kuntar file has sat in the district courthouse archives in Haifa. Its contents were never authorized for publication. Until yesterday. Right before his expected release in two days' time, the court acceded to Yediot Aharonot's request and allowed Kuntar's testimony, copies of the copious evidence and other testimonies in the file, the indictment and the judges' verdict, to be perused...

Besides the Pardons Department, no one has ever read the file - which was considered top secret by court administrators. On the few occasions that it was removed from the archives, it was accompanied by an armed security officer. Being a classified security file, the contents of File No. 578/79 had never been released for publication. Due to the obvious public interest, Justice Ron Shapira has permitted publication of everything in the file except one person's testimony. The judge also asked not to publish the pathological reports or any other detail that could harm the memory of the victims.

Evidence from the pathologist's report showing Einat Haran's brain tissue on the butt of Kuntar's rifle

"I saw no reason to restrict access to the indictment and the sentence [as demanded by the prosecutors' office - N.G.]," explained the judge. "No one disputes that the matter of Kuntar's release and therefore the circumstances of his detention are subjects of public interest. I'm certain that the newspaper's request is justified."

Kuntar, a Lebanese Druze, was 17 when he commanded the terrorist cell of the Popular Front for the National Liberation of Palestine. He has never expressed remorse for killing Einat (age 4) and Danny (age 32) Haran and the police officer Eliyahu Shahar (age 24). He and the other surviving cell member, Ahmed Assad Abras, were sentenced to five life terms and another 47 years of imprisonment. In the Nahariya terror attack on April 22, 1979, Yael Haran (age 2) was also killed while hiding from the terrorists with her mother Smadar Haran...