Detainees suspected of bringing barbed wire to Givat Ze’ev released

Sunday, November 8, 2015, 15:42 Shortly before Shabbat on Friday, November 6, two youths were detained on suspicion of bringing barbed wire to the Ayelet HaShachar Synagogue in Givat Ze’ev. They were transported and interrogated in violation of Shabbat and therefore they refused to cooperate with the interrogation and did not speak to the policemen.
At a deliberation which took place on Saturday night, after Shabbat, the police representative admitted that the two youths are suspected of only conspiring to commit the violation of disturbing public order, which is categorized as a misdemeanor and not as a crime as was specified in the demand by police to ban them for 30 days from entering Givat Ze’ev and order that they post 1,500 NIS bail. Despite the lack of severity of the suspected violation, Judge Anna Scheider, without giving a detailed decision, extended their remand until the following day.
On the afternoon of Sunday, November 8 Jerusalem Magistrate Court Judge Eitan Kornhauser accepted Honenu Attorney Shalom Ben-Shevet’s pleas, ordered the release of two youths, and reduced the bail to 400 NIS. The youths will be banned from entering Givat Ze’ev for 30 days and if the Ayelet HaShachar Synagogue is destroyed before that time the conditions will expire.
Ben-Shevet stated in response that, “As was expected, the court ordered the release of the detainees under minimal conditions. It would have been best had the Israeli Police avoided a superfluous detention such as this. It is unfortunate that at a time when the Israeli Police is calling up policemen in many other districts in order to return a feeling of personal security, the Department of Jewish Nationalist Crime in the Central Unit of the Yehuda and Shomron Police continues to busy itself with petty issues.”