Police harass family on Rosh HaShana

Wednesday, October 16, 2019, 8:25 Despite the cancellation of R.’s restrictive conditions, the police continued to monitor his compliance.
Restrictive conditions were imposed on R., a minor and Jerusalem resident, for several days. Shortly thereafter the Jerusalem District Court canceled all of the restrictions. However policemen continued to visit the family’s home in order to verify that the minor was complying with the conditions. Honenu Attorney Moshe Poleski reported the matter to the police and the visits did stop.
To the family’s surprise, approximately two weeks later the police resumed the visits and also questioned the minor’s younger sisters. The police visited the family’s home a total of approximately seven times after the conditions were canceled. At one visit the minor’s parents were not at home and the two policewomen illegally questioned a 14-year old girl.
In the letter he sent to the Yehuda and Shomron Police Claims Department, Poleski wrote, “The family ‘merited’ a ‘holiday gift’ in the form of three additional visits by policemen, two of which were on Rosh HaShana.”
During the afternoon prior to the first night of Rosh HaShana the family received their first visit, the second was that night, and the third and most traumatic was on the following morning, when the parents were at prayers in synagogue. “The policewomen, who were in uniform, decided to question the 14-year old daughter about the restrictive conditions imposed on my client, their duration, their cancellation date, etc. This conduct is not legal and also constitutes harassment.”
“The very arrival of the policemen at the family’s home, without any justification and without any authorization, constitutes harassment and possibly a threat. I am not acquainted with any citizen who would willingly tolerate ‘visits’ such as these. Particularly their being a religious family residing in a religious neighborhood and the policemen arriving at their home during a holiday increases the injury to them.”
“Furthermore, it is not at all clear from where the policewomen took upon themselves the authority to question a 14-year old girl concerning the cancellation date of the conditions. And it is not clear why the younger children must suffer questioning by policewomen at the entryway to their home… All this in addition to the inappropriate treatment of minors in their own home by policemen knocking on their door when their parents were not at home.”
In conclusion, Honenu Attorney Moshe Poleski stated that the repeated harassment and the conduct of the police constitute “an injustice worthy of compensation,” and demanded that the harassment cease immediately.