Appeal accepted, 13-year-old released from remand

Sunday, October 12, 2014, 22:04 At a deliberation which took place on Sunday, October 12 Central District Court Judge Noga Ohad accepted the appeal filed by Honenu attorney Aharon Roza and ordered the release of a 13-year-old youth detained on suspicion of involvement with a clash between Arabs and Jews near the community of K’far Tapuah in the Shomron.
On Shabbat, October 11, in the afternoon near K’far Tapuah a youth was detained on suspicion of being one of a group of youth who clashed with Arabs harvesting olives nearby.
The Arabs complained that seven masked Jews threw rocks at them, opened fire and assaulted an Arab woman who was lightly injured.
When Shabbat was over, the detainee was brought to a deliberation at the Rishon LeTzion Magistrate Court before Judge Iris Soroker, who extended his remand by two days, despite his young age and in disregard of the fact that he does not have a criminal record and that the level of his supposed involvement in the incident is not clear.
Immediately at the end of the deliberation, Roza filed an urgent appeal with the Central District Court in Lod on the decision. The court accepted the appeal and ordered the release of the youth.
An adult who was detained on the same suspicion was represented by a public defender and his remand was extended by eight days by the Petah Tikva Magistrate Court.
Roza responded, “The Central District Court used the right balance between the requirements of the investigation and the fact that the detainee is a 13-year-old minor who has no practical way of disrupting the investigation. The court acted correctly by canceling the decision of the magistrate court and ordering his conditional release.”