Youth detained yesterday on suspicion of “price tag” incident released

Thursday, July 5, 15:23 A yeshiva high school student was detained on suspicion of involvement with a “price tag” incident while hiking yesterday.
Today Judge Gad Ehrenberg rejected most of the police’s demands and released the youth.
A student at the yeshiva high school in Nachliel was detained yesterday while on a class trip at Ein Mabu’a in the northern Judean desert on suspicion of damaging Arab property in the nature reserve, Honenu reports. This morning Judge Gad Ehrenberg of the Jerusalem Magistrate Court ruled that the youth be released, despite the police’s demand that he be placed under house arrest.
The youth and his friends from the yeshiva left yesterday for a hike in the Nachal Prat (Wadi Kelt) Nature Reserve in the northern Judean Desert. According to the youth while they were in the parking lot policemen at the site abruptly approached him, claiming that he had punctured the tires of an Arab vehicle in the lot. According to the youth his only fault was being in the area at the time and he was not involved with the act.
According to the youth he tried to flee the site because the policemen startled him, but they chased and caught him. Friends of the youth at the scene said that the policemen used unreasonable force on a 15 year old and removed him from the scene by dragging him on the ground. According to the police among the items found on the youth were a knife and tear gas. The youth was detained and taken to the Ma’ale Adumim Police Station.
Despite the fact that the law requires the parents of a minor to be present during his interrogation, the youth was interrogated before his parents arrived. According to the youth one of the interrogators slapped him several times during the interrogation so that he would confess to an act that he hadn’t done.
Today the youth was brought to a deliberation at the Jerusalem Magistrate Court by police demand that he remain under house arrest for several days and that he be put under a restraining order banning him from entering the Nahal Prat Nature Reserve for half a year. The police also demanded a 6000 NIS bail. Judge Ehrenberg rejected the demand for house arrest and released the youth. The judge also reduced the period of the restraining order to one month and the bail to 1500 NIS.
Attorney Itzik Bam represented the youth in the capacity of a public defender.
According to Bam the youth and his family intend to file a complaint with the Police Investigation Unit on the violence used on the youth during his detention.