Sunday, January 19, 2020, 16:50 On the afternoon of Sunday, January 19, the Jerusalem District Attorney indicted a Jewish youth who has been remanded by the GSS for two weeks. For one week he was prohibited meetings with an attorney. The detainee complained about physical and verbal abuse during interrogation and the court ordered the matter transferred to the Police Investigation Unit for investigation.
According to the bill of indictment, approximately three weeks ago the detainee was apprehended near Abu Ghosh with gloves, spray paint and a container with two milliliters of gasoline in his backpack. Also stated was that a knife linked to him was found near him. The bill of indictment attributes to the detainee racially motivated attempted vandalism, possession of brass knuckles or a knife, and disruption of legal proceedings. A request to remand the detainee until the end of legal proceedings against him was filed with the bill of indictment.
Honenu Attorney Avichai Hajbi, who is representing the detainee, leveled criticism at the General Security Service: “The bill of indictment filed today unequivocally proves the violation of the defendants rights. The fact is that the General Security Service is beyond unreasonable when the matter at hand is hilltop youth. It should not be that a case ends up in court with an indictment for something that can be investigated in three days by a local police station in Jerusalem.
“The fact that during this entire time the General Security Service deprived my client of his basic rights, did not allow him to consult an attorney, abused him physically and verbally, indicates that the GSS shows no restrain, and the bill of indictment proves this unequivocally.”
Honenu Attorney Avichai Hajbi speaking outside the courtroom; Video credit: Honenu