Honenu Atty. Shimshilashvili; Photo credit: Honenu
Wednesday, June 14, 2023, 8:39 The security forces continue to persecute Yehuda and Shomron residents. Two days ago, Yehuda and Shomron Division Commander Brigadier General Avi Bluth imposed a closed military zone order on the Sedeh Yonatan hilltop community near Michmash. Several hours later, large numbers of border police forces raided the hilltop and detained two residents for violating the order. The residents were taken to the police station. There, they were offered release on the condition of their signing an agreement banning them from the hilltop. They refused to sign, and therefore, were remanded.
The next day, the two residents were taken to the Jerusalem Magistrates Court, where the police asked to ban them from the hilltop for one week. The court rejected the request and released the residents. At the hearing, Honenu Attorney Daniel Shimshilashvili revealed that one resident had been illegally held for hours in a police car while handcuffed. The resident was left handcuffed until the court hearing when Judge Sharon Larry-Bavli ordered his handcuffs removed. Judge Larry-Bavli also ordered the court minutes transferred to the Police Investigation Unit (PIU) for an investigation into the border police officers’ actions, based on Attorney Shimshilashvili’s statement.
Activists from the Sedeh Yonatan hilltop commented on the incident in real time: “Tonight’s detentions and orders indicate a worrying shift and a scheme planned by the security forces in opposition to the positions of the right-wing government ministers. The aim is to thwart the establishment of new communities. This was not just another destruction, but the use of draconian means against the residents themselves, not only against construction. A government that wants to be considered right-wing cannot destroy communities, certainly not by such heavy-handed means.”
Honenu Attorney Daniel Shimshilashvili added, “I welcome the honorable court’s decision, which adheres to the provisions of law and common sense according to which there were no grounds to bring the residents to court, certainly not as detainees. Bringing them to court led to a serious violation of their rights. The court’s decision to release them on the spot, unconditionally, and to transfer the minutes to the PIU, speaks for itself. The police would do well to draw the correct conclusions from this case and divert their resources to the war on genuine crime.”