Kol HaAm
The newspaper's editors have been prosecuted several times for defamation. In September 1948, the newspaper accused a number of police officers of having tortured and murdered the communist activist Sioma Mironyansky in 1941, while he was serving in the Criminal Investigation Department of the Mandate Police. In response, the officers demanded that the editors of the newspaper be prosecuted for defamation Ma'ariv. However, after further examination, it was found that there is truth in the claims and an investigative committee was established to examine the circumstances of Mironyansky's murder. In February 1951, a trial was opened on charges of defamation against the newspaper's editors for an article from September 1949 in which the Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, was called a "traitor to the people", "pulling the American imperialism" and other nicknames. At the trial, Ben-Gurion claimed that the article was intended to harm Soviet Union-Israel relations. The defense attorney for the Kol HaAm argued, however, that the purpose of the trial is to suppress the Israeli Communist Party. In December 1951, the newspaper was accused of defaming the Minister of Police and inciting rebellion for an article published on July 8 1950. In July 1952 the newspaper was closed for a week because of censorship.