Tuesday, May 5, 2015, 12:12 On Monday, May 4, Petah Tikva Magistrate Judge Erez Nurieli rejected the police request to extend the duration of the house arrest of a youth residing in the Shomron who was detained during the destruction of houses in a hilltop community adjacent to K’far Tapuah the previous week.
The youth was released from remand on Friday, May 1, to house arrest, the duration of which ended on Monday, May 4. On May 4 the police representative requested that the house arrest be extended until an indictment was filed, noted that the investigation had been completed and that the reason for the extension request was due to the fact that there was no prosecutor available to file the indictment.
Honenu attorney Avichai Hajbi
Honenu attorney Avichai Hajbi, who is representing the youth, demanded that the request be rejected out of hand and explained that, “The police are attempting to introduce new criminal law procedures,” and that “the lack of human resources in the Prosecution Division must not harm an individual’s rights.”
Judge Erez Nurieli accepted Hajbi’s pleas in their entirety and ruled that the house arrest would not be extended. “I am of the opinion that the fact that there is no available prosecutor in court to write an indictment as stated in the request, does not constitute cause for extending the duration of the house arrest,” wrote Judge Nurieli.
Honenu attorney Avichai Hajbi, who is representing the youth, stated that, “This is another instance of scandalous conduct produced by the Prosecution Division of the Israeli Police. The court has placed a ‘stop sign’ in front of the police, and made it clear that human resource considerations are not considerations for which one may harm an individual’s freedom. It is regretful to know that there are policemen in the State of Israel in the year 2015 who reason differently.”