Wednesday, June 19, 2024, 11:02 In March, Honenu Attorney Nati Rom was falsely detained at the Netivot Police Station (see video below) when he arrived to provide legal counsel to detainees. Demonstrators were detained at the Kerem Shalom Crossing for protesting the transfer of humanitarian aid – which virtually always ends up in the hands of Hamas – to the Gaza Strip and taken into the station. After Attorney Rom demanded that the detainees be granted all of their civil rights, including their right to meet with an attorney, he was falsely detained. Honenu Attorney Menashe Yado filed a NIS 75,000 suit with the Be’er Sheva Magistrates Court against officers at the Netivot Police Station on behalf of Attorney Rom.
After the suit was publicized, the police issued a press release claiming that Attorney Rom had been detained because he had obstructed police officers in their line of duty, attempted to enter the room in which the protesters were detained at the station, and threatened the duty officer. In light of the mendacious claim, Attorney Yado asked the court to add to the suit an additional charge of defamation. Currently, he is demanding a total sum of NIS 125,000 in compensation.
In the amended statement of claim, Attorney Yado rebuffed the claims made by the police: “The claim that the plaintiff was detained because he attempted to enter the room in which the detainees were being held is a clearly malicious claim. In real time, the Israel Police did not interpret the plaintiff’s acts as such. The claim has no basis in reality. The plaintiff was not interrogated over the fabricated allegation that the police publicized to the media. This is not the first time that the Israel Police have needed to publicly defend themselves by groundlessly defaming a victim who suffered an injustice.
Honenu Attorney Menashe Yado commented on the suit: “The police were not satisfied with illegally detaining Attorney Rom. They also attempted to defame him, in their statements relating to the suit he filed against them. That is the reason for significantly increasing the amount of damages in the suit.”
Honenu Attorney Nati Rom added: “I will continue to fearlessly fight with all my strength to defend civil rights and the rights of accused to consult an attorney. Detainees’ rights are being constantly eroded. We will not be dissuaded from defending detainees. False detentions and civil rights violations will not stop me from defending detainees’ rights, particularly the rights of minors. I intend to donate the compensation funds for the sake of complete victory and the prevention of aid to the enemy at a time of war.”
The detention; Video credit: Free use