Thursday, June 23, 2022, 20:45 The Ashkelon Magistrates Court extended until next Wednesday the remand of the Ariel resident who was detained after defending a group of attacked children. The police and the GSS suspect him of murder. Honenu Attorney Adi Keidar, who is representing the detainee, strongly criticized the decision: “After the hearing was over, it turned out that, as we figured, the police are examining the situation only from the Arab perspective and completely ignoring the fact that what the public needs to know and what actually happened is an incident that could have ended with the death of Jewish youths.
“There were a large number of Arab assailants with weapons, and the police and the GSS were completely uninterested in that fact. Therefore, it appears that the interrogation will not be objective and will not lead to a genuine investigation. We expect the court to reduce the length of the remand, allow the detainee to meet with an attorney, and allow us to meet with our client – it is very likely that he is the victim in this incident – and to bring about a quick end to the investigation,” concluded Keidar.
Earlier, Honenu director Shmuel (Zangi) Meidad called for the rioting Arabs who attacked a group of children just outside of Ariel to be detained. Meidad demanded that the IDF and the police investigate the perpetrators and put them on trial: “It is unacceptable that a group of children is attacked near the city of Ariel, the assailants were documented, holding clubs, in a video clip shared on social media, and they are still walking free.”
Four interrogations in less than 24 hours
As stated in a complaint filed today, the detained Ariel resident underwent extremely harsh GSS interrogations. He was interrogated four times in less than 24 hours, deprived of sleep, and refused medical treatment. The intensive interrogations lasted for hours, including all night.
The complaint states that the detainee said during the court hearing that if the interrogations continued in the same manner, he would admit even to murdering Hitler. The State of Israel was represented by Shimi Shalgi and Yossi Ovadia from the Central Unit of the Yehuda and Shomron Police. The Ariel resident is in his 40s, has three children, aged 6, 5, and 3, served in the Navy, and does not have a criminal record.
In light of the brutal interrogations, Honenu Attorney Adi Keidar, who is representing the detainee, called for the removal of the GSS from the investigation: “Unfortunately, we have been exposed in this case to law violations and GSS interrogations that are borderline illegal, and perhaps even constitute torture, according to international law. We call on the court and the office of the State Attorney to order the removal of the ban on meeting with an attorney, and the removal of the GSS from the investigation, which does not justify the involvement of the GSS. This is a regular police investigation in every way.”