Interrogated minor sexually harassed

Monday, June 4, 2018, 20:36 On Monday, June 4, a minor under interrogation by the GSS, who has been forbidden to meet with an attorney, reported to Rishon L’Tzion Magistrate Court Judge Guy Avnon that he had been sexually harassed by a GSS interrogator during interrogation.
The minor was detained on Tuesday, May 29 on suspicion of damaging Arab property. The GSS imposed a gag order on the details of the case. All contact with the minor has been broken off since his detention and he has not meet with an attorney in seven days. During the deliberation the minor told Judge Avnon that he was sexually harassed by a GSS interrogator by the name ‘Bruno’. Judge Avnon immediately informed Honenu Attorney Adi Keidar, who is representing the minor. Additionally, in his decision Judge Avnon ordered an immediate examination of the minor’s complaint.
Immediately following the deliberation Honenu Attorney Adi Keidar filed a complaint with the “Mivtan”, the department authorized to investigate criminal offenses carried out by GSS interrogators. “This was a despicable act which must be investigated immediately,” wrote Keidar. “The interrogator’s actions constitute the crime of indecent assault of a minor, while the minor was interrogated and apparently tied to a chair, which increases the severity of the act. Additionally the acts are considered sexual harassment.”
In the complaint Keidar demanded that the interrogator be immediately suspended and distanced from the minor. “I demand that the interrogator ‘Bruno’ be forbidden to see my client and he must certainly be suspended from conducting interrogations. I demand that already today formal and detailed testimony be taken from my client concerning this incident.”
On Sunday, June 3, Dr. Yelena Rodman, the house doctor of the Petah Tikva detention center in which a minor has been interrogated over the past few days by the GSS, informed Honenu Attorney Menasheh Yado, who is representing the minor, that in the morning the minor had not felt well, required medical treatment and had received Valerian, a sedative, in pill form. In light of the minor’s medical condition and the fact that he was administered medication without his parents’ consent, as is required by law, Honenu Attorney Menashe Yado demanded that the interrogation be stopped. In his demand Yado mentioned that Valerian affects the nervous system and the brain, and has the potential to invalidate the detainee’s interrogation. Also the minor’s mother demanded that the investigative authorities evacuate her son for medical treatment.
Honenu Attorney Adi Keider, who is representing the minor, stated that, “The development of the deliberations and the incidents over the past few days has been most unusual. First, there have been repeated violations of the law by the Israeli Police, unfortunately backed by the courts. The matter reached the Supreme Court, which accepted our opinion concerning the violations and returned the case to the magistrate court.
“At the deliberation today it turned out that not only were we correct, but also serious details were revealed, according to which the GSS interrogators have been doing whatever they want in the interrogation rooms. Today we were informed that the extent reached an indecent act on and sexual harassment of a minor. We filed a serious complaint and we hope that the matter will be dealt with to the full extent of the law. I hope that tomorrow the court will state its piece on the matter. I believe that after the order prohibiting my client from meeting with an attorney is lifted, the truth will come to light.”