Honenu Attorney Moshe Poleski; Photo credit: Honenu
Thursday, March 7, 2024, 12:47 Two days ago, a minor who protested the passage of aid to the Gaza Strip at the Kerem Shalom Crossing was detained on suspicion of entering a closed military zone, violating an order signed by the GOC of the Southern Command, damaging property and disturbing a police officer in the line of duty. After her detention, she was illegally interrogated without the presence of her parents. Although everyone else who was interrogated over the same incident was released, an inexplicable decision was made to detain her, hold her in remand overnight, and bring her to a hearing at the Be’er Sheva Magistrates Court the following day. (Honenu Attorney Nati Rom was also detained and will sue over false detention.)
Honenu Attorney Moshe Poleski, who is representing the minor, refused to accept the detention and opted for proceedings that enabled filing an appeal to the court on the officer’s decision on the day of the detention, even before she was brought before a judge. The hearing on the appeal opened at the Be’er Sheva Magistrates Court in the evening. Judge Meirav Amar Cohen ordered the police to immediately respond to the appeal. After receiving a reply from the police, in a bold, compassionate, and notable decision, the court immediately released the minor from remand.
Honenu Attorney Moshe Poleski commented on the case: “On Tuesday [March 5], I gave legal counsel to all of the minors who were interrogated after the protest at the Kerem Shalom Crossing. I was convinced that everyone involved would be interrogated and released to their homes. After 17:00, to my great surprise, I was informed that a decision had been made to detain one of the minors. According to my experience, this decision does not stand up to any accepted legal test. Despite several attempts to speak with the officer in charge of interrogations, at which I tried to clarify to her that the decision was inexplicable and incompatible with the relevant provisions of law, my requests were not granted. I received a reply that the order had been given by the highest echelons of the Southern Region Israel Police.
“The decision to detain the minor was inexplicable, illegal, lacking in legal grounds, and only motivated by the vindictiveness of the Israel Police. The decision was designed to serve as a punitive sanction, in violation of the relevant provision of law. Moreover, for a minor lacking a criminal record, exercising the right to protest, even if unintentional property damage occurs, does not constitute grounds or justification for detention and being sent to a detention center like a hardened criminal. The court examined the appeal and understood that the detention itself was likely to be a traumatic experience for the minor. We welcome the court’s exceptional and unusual decision that demonstrated the meaning of the relevant provisions of law, served as judicial review for the administrative decision by the Israel Police, and immediately released the minor from remand, before a hearing took place.”