Dozens interrogated in Latrun vandalism case

Wednesday, October 31, 15:37 Dozens of youth were summoned for interrogation to the offices of the National Unit of Serious and International Crime Investigations on suspicion of involvement with vandalism of the Latrun Monastery. Honenu: The police are powerless and grasping at straws.
Dozens of youth, girls and boys aged 15-16, were summoned for interrogation at the offices of the National Unit of Serious and International Crime Investigations in Lod. Those interrogated related that they were questioned about the damage caused to the monastery approximately two months ago. According to them, the interrogation included shouts and threats from the police interrogators despite the fact that none of those interrogated were actually suspected of involvement with the act. What all they had in common was their participation in protesting against the evacuation of the community of Migron, which occurred two days before the incident at the Latrun Monastery.
On Tuesday, September 4, approximately two months ago graffiti reading “Price Tag – Migron” was found of the walls of the Latrun Monastery. There was also an attempt to set one of the doors of the monastery on fire. The police suspect that the act was a “price tag” incident in response to the evacuation of Migron, a community in the Binyamin region. Due to the content and phrasing of the graffiti many people question the reasoning of the police and doubt that Jews carried out the acts.
As of now, it appears that the police do not have any clues as to the identity of the perpetrators, despite suspicions that they are from the right-wing public. During the past week, the police began to summon for interrogation dozens of youth concerning the incident. Those interrogated were linked to the incident simply due to their being present in Migron two days previously to protest the evacuation of the community. They had arrived at Migron in organized buses from their high schools. In Migron the protesters were loaded on to buses which the security forces had ready for them and were taken to various locations throughout Israel. One of the buses let the protesters out at the Latrun Intersection, near the Latrun Monastery.
Honenu, which provided the interrogated youth with legal assistance, questions the method of interrogation by the police, who chose to summon all of the youths for interrogation, even though they were dropped off at the site two days before the incident. “This is not the first time that the police have summoned dozens of suspects to be interrogated without concrete information linking them to involvement with a specific incident. It is difficult to imagine that someone would allow this sort of conduct with secular youth. Apparently. there are communities in Israel which do not have basic human rights.”
Honenu notes that the police have been using technologically advanced means to investigate the “price tag” incidents. One of the suspects interrogated said that he was detained following the protest at Migron only because he had lent his cell phone to a friend who had been taken to Latrun. “How did did the police know that my cell phone was there?” he asked. Only the police have the answers.