Court: Suspects will be released tomorrow, police conduct is negligent

Thursday, June 13, 18:52 The Jerusalem Magistrate Court ruled that the two minors suspected of arson on Wednesday, June 12 will be released due to weak evidence against them. The court also leveled criticism against the conduct of the Yehuda and Shomron police. Honenu attorney David HaLevi stated that it is obvious that there is no genuine evidence in the case.
On the evening of Wednesday, June 12, a short time after the shooting attack in which several rounds were shot at an Afikim bus as it passed through the outskirts of Hawara and approached the Shomron Territorial Brigade base, Arabs from the nearby village of Burin complained that anonymous persons threw fire bombs at houses in the village. According to the Arabs as a result of the fire bombs a fire broke out in one of the fields. Detective teams from the Police Unit for Nationalist Crime and Special Unit (Yassam) policemen who spread out over the surrounding area subsequent to the complaint detained a vehicle in which five youths with many musical instruments were traveling as it left the hilltop community of Sneh Ya’akov, located near Yitzhar. Later the same day two minors who had been in a spring close to the Yehuda and Shomron Territorial Brigade base were detained.
The youth were taken to the Ariel Police Station where after waiting for a short time the five youths detained while traveling were unconditionally released without interrogation. The other two youths, both minors, were transferred to the Central Unit of the Yehuda and Shomron Police Station in Ma’aleh Adumim where they were interrogated. On Thursday, June 13 in the early afternoon hours the youths were brought to the Jerusalem Magistrate Court. The police demanded a remand extension of six days. Judge Yaron Mientkavich ordered that the two youths be released the following day to a five-day house arrest. Honenu attorney David HaLevi represented the youths.
In a deliberation which took place on Thursday, June 13 at the Jerusalem Magistrate Court Judge Yaron Mientkavich ordered that the two minors suspected of throwing fire bombs into fields in Burin on the previous day be released on Friday from their remand to a five day house arrest. The deliberation began over three hours late because the detainees were not brought to court on time. Judge Mientkavich strongly criticized the Yehuda and Shomron Police for their negligence. “It is impossible to accept the number of mishaps which characterize this district,” wrote the judge in his decision. According to the judge the accusations against the two detainees are insufficiently based and one more day of remand is enough for the police to complete all actions necessary for the investigation. The police had requested a six-day remand extension.
In response to the decision of the court Honenu attorney David Ha Levi said, “The court ruled that tomorrow my clients will be released from remand and that the accusation is insufficiently based. This decision speaks for itself and it is obvious that if there had been substantial evidence in the case linking my clients to the incident the decision would have been completely different. The court also criticized the conduct of the Yehuda and Shomron Police in the case.”