Kfar Duma case: Deliberation expected to be held shortly

Thursday, July 12, 2018, 9:01 On Wednesday, July 11, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked sent a response to the schedule suggested and submitted by Knesset Member Yo’av Ben Tzur (Shas) under the title “The standpoint of the Attorney General’s office in support of continuing the remand of the minor in the [Kfar] Duma case notwithstanding the circumstances and despite the recommendations of the court”. In her response Shaked stated that she hopes that during the deliberation on Thursday, July 12 concerning the release from remand of the minor the court will be lenient: “The Attorney General’s office informed me that on July 5, 2018, the court ordered the acceptance of the expert opinion submitted by the Probation Service which advised examining the option of releasing the minor and also the option of an electronic ankle cuff. The deliberation for the decision on the request by the defense to release the minor has been set for Friday, July 13.
“In light of the picture which has been revealed to the public up until this point, I hope that leniency will be shown in the deliberation on the matter of his remand and that the judges will allow the minor to handle his trial outside of the detention center,” wrote Shaked.
Justice Minister Shaked added that, “And on the whole, as a general lesson from this case, which has not yet been closed, I suggest that all of the sides not be hasty in determining an individual’s fate according to media headlines.”
Shaked’s statement was a response to the request for a deliberation in the plenum which was expected to be held on Wednesday, July 11, and was canceled following a request by Knesset Member Ben Tzur in light of the response by the Justice Minister.
Ben Tzur: “It appears that concerning the Duma case the Attorney General’s office has found itself in a situation which does not not allow itself to retreat from its standpoint. Senior lawmakers and legal professionals have reached the conclusion that the minor is not connected to the arson incident. No-one disputes that during interrogations he was treated with maximum severity. He was emotionally injured, and despite that the Attorney General’s office insists that he be held in remand, even though today the court ordered the Probation Service to examine [the possibility] of his release, contrary to the standpoint of the Attorney General’s office.”
On the morning of Thursday, July 12, a deliberation is expected to take place at the Central District Court in Lod on the request to release the minor from remand.
Honenu Attorney Adi Keidar, who is representing the minor together with Attorney Tzion Amir, stated that, “We all hope that after the two-and-a-half-year struggle, in the end the minor’s confessions will be invalidated, and that in light of the serious consequences of his interrogations and his remand, the court will order his release from remand, which the Probation Service has already recommended.”