Justice demands alternative to administrative detention

Honenu Attys. HaLevi (L) and Rom (R); Photo credit: Honenu

Wednesday, August 30, 2023, 11:13 One week ago, the Supreme Court held a hearing on the appeal by four of the administrative detainees who were served with orders after disturbances that occurred in the wake of the June terror attack in Eli. (See here and here for details.) The detainees are demanding the cancelation of their orders, which, as is the case with all administrative orders, were served without the detainees standing trial or being presented with any evidence against them. Honenu Attorneys David HaLevi and Nati Rom are representing the detainees.

In an exceptional move, Justice Grosskopf told the representative of the GSS at the hearing that regarding the detainee Yosef Yitzhak Koskas, administrative detention is inappropriate and therefore an alternative should be found: “Concerning his detention, an alternative that takes into consideration any potential danger posed by the defendant must be offered, whether the GSS agrees or not. The alternative itself is at the discretion of the respondents.”

After Justice Grosskopf spoke, the GSS representative replied that they would not extend Koskas’s administrative order and they were willing to consider an alternative to detention.

Honenu Attorney David HaLevi stated, “I welcome the decision that will result in the cancellation of at least one administrative order. This decision indicates that from the beginning, more moderate measures than the drastic and extreme administrative detention orders should have been considered. The GSS would do well to examine more proportionate alternatives for the other administrative detainees as well. In my estimation, administrative detention does not achieve any goal, and it should be perceived as a purely punitive measure.”

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