Tuesday, November 3, 2015, 18:43 On the night of Monday, November 2, approximately 10 residents of Givat HaBaladim, including a married father of two, were detained in a police raid on the hilltop. Most of the detainees were released overnight, however the police decided to bring the married man to court and demanded that the court order him banned from his home for 180 days, and that he also post 5,000 NIS bail. The police claimed that the resident violated a closed military zone order and presented an order to the judge, from the year 1999, signed by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, then GOC of the Central Command, and also a more recent order signed by a different GOC.
Honenu Attorney Rehavia Piltz, who is representing the detainee, pleaded at the deliberation that the order is not applicable to residents of the hilltop. Jerusalem Magistrate Court Judge David Shaul Gabai Richter did not consider the plea and ruled that even before the question arises as to the applicability of the order to the residents, the order is illegible and it is not clear that it applies to Givat HaBaladim. Therefore he ordered the unconditional release of the detainee and also leveled criticism at the police.
“The order indicated is illegible and the markings indicated on it both on the map and on the aerial photograph are not at all clear. I have no understanding as to what Givat HaBaladim is, what its limits are, and why it is being claimed that the order corresponds
to that same hill,” wrote the judge. “These questions remain open and unanswered, and under the circumstances I did not find that there existed a reasonable suspicion implicating the defendant. Therefore I cannot acquiesce to any part of the request.”
Honenu intends to file a civil suit against the police for false detention.
Honenu Attorney Rehavia Piltz, who represented the detainee, stated that, “It is a shame that during these chaotic times when stabbings and murders by Arab terrorists are daily occurrences, the police carry out illegal detentions, and systematically harass the residents of a site despite the fact that they reside there legally.”