Police requested 8-day remand extension, detainee released to house arrest

Tuesday, May 20, 2014, 16:53 The hysteria over “Price Tag” incidents is apparently causing the police to detain suspects without evidence.
On the morning of Tuesday, May 20 police detectives from the Israeli Police Northern District’s Central Unit detained a Yokneam resident in his 20’s on suspicion of involvement with a series of “Price Tag” incidents which have occurred throughout the city over the past few months.
During interrogation the detainee denied all charges and completely rejected all of the claims made by the police. In the afternoon he was brought to the Natzrat Magistrate Court for a deliberation. Honenu attorney Ran Shacham, who represented the detainee, pleaded that there was no evidence linking him to the acts of which he was accused. The police detectives requested an 8-day remand extension, however Judge Lili Jung-Goffer accepted Shacham’s plea and ordered the release of the detainee.
“The judge ruled that the investigation has been going on for approximately two weeks and despite the reasonable suspicion there is insufficient evidence to justify extending the remand,” said Shacham.
Judge Jung-Goffer ordered the release of the detainee to 8 days of house arrest and also accepted the police request to delay carrying out the decision in order to facilitate filing an appeal on the decision.
“My client is a normative individual, has no criminal record and has never been detained previously,” stated Honenu attorney Ran Shacham. “He vehemently denies any connection to the case. Instead of waiting for solid evidence the police rushed to detain him without any justifiable evidence, apparently because of media interest in the case.”