The blurring of the meme is not in the original.
Tuesday, March 7, 2017, 14:50 A short time ago the police filed a request to once again extend the remand of a Binyamin resident suspected of inciting to injure the President of the Supreme Court, Miriam Naor. The basis for the detention is a Facebook meme (see image to the right) which the detainee seems to have shared with the intention to “tweak” the left-wing.
The detainee denies that he created the image, which was posted about a month prior to his detention and received a mere two “likes”, and says that he only shared it on a page that is not his and wrote, “No, she is not a Nazi, but the Photoshop is gorgeous and it is definitely impressive art (left-wing excuses…).” The comment is apparently criticism of the police for repeatedly releasing left-wingers accused of incitement, such as the Betzalel student who displayed a poster depicting PM Netanyahu’s head next to a noose. She was released after interrogation by the police and was not brought to court.
Honenu stresses that the detainee is a normative youth without a criminal record and it appears that if the subject of the meme had not been the President of the Supreme Court, no-one would have paid any attention to the post, which received only two “likes” during approximately one month.
“The month that passed between the beginning of the investigation and the detention of my client only proves that even the police reason, that he does not really pose a danger and that this is a show-case detention,” said Honenu Attorney Yossi Nadav, who is representing the detainee. “If the case of the Betzalel student, with the clear message of the noose over the Prime Minister’s head, falls under the category of freedom of expression, then all the more so my client’s case.”
On Monday, March 6 the Jerusalem Magistrate Court ruled that if another request for remand was not filed, then the detainee would be released the following morning to house arrest. However the police announced that they would request a remand extension on Tuesday. Simultaneous to the police request, Honenu Attorney Yossi Nadav filed an appeal with the Jerusalem District Court on Monday’s decision. On Tuesday afternoon a deliberation on the case will take place at the Magistrate Court and a deliberation on the appeal will take place at the District Court. There is a gag order on the details of the detainee.
Public criticism of the detention has also been heard from the left-wing. HaAretz journalist Chaim Levinson posted a tweet on Twitter on the morning of Tuesday, March 7 (translation from Hebrew by Honenu): “Excuse me, but the state has gone crazy. If that obscure Photoshop which received two ‘likes’ justifies the detention of a man for incitement, the Knesset must intervene and legislate a law to stop this insanity.”