Wednesday, April 29, 2015, 17:10 Are the police trying to prevent a legitimate public protest? A 23 year old Jewish man was detained on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 29 in Jerusalem after posters in support of Elad Sela, the soldier from Bat Ayin accused of leaking military information to activists in the Etzion Bloc region, were found in his car. Police detectives stopped his car in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood of Jerusalem, confiscated the posters, and detained him for interrogation.
The posters feature a photograph of Sela with the caption “Elad Sela – detained because he
Poster in support of Elad Sela
gave information to his brothers the settlers”. Next to the photograph the text reads: “Dedication to the People of Israel, Devotion to G-d, Obedience to the Torah”.
Honenu attorney Adi Kedar is trying to verify the charge for which the detainee was detained, because there is no legal problem with the poster itself. It seems that the detainee will be able to sue the police for false detention.
Honenu: “This is another instance of silencing individuals, an action worthy of dark regimes. The police and the GSS have forgotten that Israel is a democratic country in which one may express opinions and objections, and affirm one’s dedication to the Torah, even if someone disagrees. It seems that this detention is an act similar to the severe indictment of espionage filed against Elad Sela, which is completely out of proportion to his actions.”
On April 13 the Jaffa Military Court filed a severe indictment against Elad Sela, a 25 year old father of two and a resident of the community of Bat Ayin in the Etzion Bloc. Sela is charged with espionage with the intent to endanger the security of the State of Israel and suspected of leaking to Bat Ayin residents documents with which he came into contact during his military service as a non-commissioned officer in an intelligence position in the Etzion Territorial Brigade. The documents involve surveillance by the GSS and the police of the movements of Bat Ayin residents, suspicions which arose concerning actions of the residents, and investigations of incidents in which Arabs were injured near Bat Ayin. Sela was detained on March 10.
Honenu attorney Adi Kedar, who is representing Sela, stated after the indictment was filed that, “The indictment is highly problematic. I think that this is the first time that the Israeli system has officially categorized hilltop youth as an enemy. I think that someone very specific in the uppermost echelons made a very problematic and controversial decision. I hope very much that examining the evidence will help me to refute this claim and that someone, either in the court or the Attorney General’s office, will see fit to get off of his high horse and put the case into its proper proportions.” See more here.