Minors released, again

Wednesday, August 23, 2017, 18:23 In an attempt to circumvent the courts the police detained two Bat Ayin minors who had been conditionally released from remand.
The minors were detained on August 16 and the following day ordered released to house arrest by the Jerusalem Magistrate Court. The police filed an appeal to delay carrying out the decision, which was accepted. The Jerusalem District Court subsequently conditionally released the minors. In an almost unprecedented step on Tuesday, August 22, the police detained the minors again.
A deliberation on their case took place early in the morning on Wednesday, August 23 at the Jerusalem Magistrate Court following an urgent appeal on the detention filed by Honenu. Judge Ya’el Yitav ordered the release of both minors and criticized the police for detaining them again without justification. The police filed an appeal with the Jerusalem District Court on the decision, which was rejected. The court ordered the release of the detainees under the same conditions as their release after the initial detention. Honenu Attorneys David HaLevi and Rehavia Piltz represented the minors.
“It is very unfortunate that the Israeli Police are so strongly motivated to return minors to remand, in blatant circumvention of the courts’ decisions,” stated Piltz. “It is a shame that the Hevron Police do not have so much determination in their operations to prevent terror under their watch.”
HaLevi added that, “I regret the suffering caused my clients, young minors without a criminal record, by an arbitrary and superfluous detention. Unfortunately there is no limit to the audacity and heavy-handed conduct of the Israeli Police, who made a law for themselves in an attempt to circumvent court decisions. This ridiculous attempt did not succeed and their appeals were rejected by both the Jerusalem Magistrate and District Courts, which also criticized the police conduct. We are considering filing a suit against the police in light of their conduct in this case.”