Dudu Topaz, the disgraced TV star killed himself in jail, while on trial for plotting attacks on media execs. His lawyer Zion Amir, has blamed the authorities for his client's death, and said that Topaz alerted him to his severe mental distress the day before his death.
- Topaz was jailed at Nitzan Prison while facing charges of plotting attacks on senior media executives. He hanged himself in the shower next to his cell.
- Amir faulted police, courts and the prison service for Topaz's suicide, insisting that he had warned them of the former TV star's frail mental state. Amir said that given his emotional condition, Topaz should have been held in a mental health facility, rather than prison.
- The attorney also blamed his client's suicide on the intensive media coverage of the arrest and court hearings.
- Topaz was arrested in late May in connection with attacks on TV producer Shira Margalit, the CEO of the Channel 2 television franchise Keshet, Avi Nir, in November 2008 and actors' agent Boaz Ben-Zion some six months ago.
- The 62-year-old Topaz was a household name in Israel for his popular variety shows and a decades-long showbiz career. At the pinnacle of his career, he was nicknamed the "king of ratings."
Source:Haaretz
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