Wednesday, January 9, 2019, 12:49 Update from the Central District Court: Judge Hagai Tarsi decided to hold the deliberation without the presence of the minors. Their attorneys will not participate in a deliberation in the absence of their clients.
Judge Hagai Tarsi of the Central District Court in Lod accepted the position of the GSS and the police and ordered the deliberation on the appeal on the remand of the minors to take place without the presence of the minors, who were not brought to the deliberation. Their attorneys refused to participate in the deliberation and informed the court in writing that they still insist that the deliberation take place in the presence of the minors: “Because the appellants were not granted their basic right to hold fair proceedings, when in the background there are their claims that the interrogation includes abuse, humiliation and other unacceptable means, the attorneys of the appellants do not have the ability to carry out their work at all,” wrote the attorneys to the court, insisting that the deliberation be conducted in the presence of the minors.
Honenu Attorneys Chai Haber and Amir Bracha outside of the courtroom;
Video credit: Honenu
Honenu Attorneys Chai Haber and Amir Bracha, who are representing the minors detained by the GSS, left the courtroom of the Central District Court in Lod in protest of the fact that the minors were not brought to the deliberation. Outside of the courtroom they stated that, “A new level has been reached today. We filed an appeal with the [Central] District Court on the remand extension ordered by the Magistrates Court. As we all know, proceedings on a remand are held with the suspect present in the courtroom. Here the investigating unit decided that they did not want to bring them [the suspects] and they did want to hold the deliberation without their presence. This is not right. This is not done. Proceedings on a remand do not take place without the presence of the suspect, and therefore we, all of the attorneys, rose and left the courtroom.
“If the system wants to hold deliberations with only one side present, then they should do so. If the suspects are not present here, we will not be present either. They should decide what they want to decide. The investigating authority and the court can talk to each other. Let them discuss the matter between themselves. If they want to extend the remand, if they want to accept the appeal, they should do whatever they want. We will not participate in this game. There are limits.
“We exited the courtroom and are waiting for the court to inform us of the answer. We will participate in deliberations only if the suspects are present. They are minors without a criminal record and some of them are under the age of 16,” added Haber.