Honenu Attorney Adi Keidar; Photo credit: Honenu
Tuesday, May 11, 2021, 20:33 At a Rishon LeTzion Magistrates Court deliberation, Judge Tal Aner partially rejected the police request to extend by ten days the remand of three Lod residents who defended their lives and those of other citizens. He extended the remand by two days. Honenu Attorney Adi Keidar had demanded their immediate release. In court, the police representative admitted that no Arabs had been detained, and it was also revealed that the arrival of the police on the scene had been greatly delayed.
Honenu Attorney Adi Keidar responded to Judge Aner’s decision: “The court was forced with great hesitation to very slightly extend the remand. I still think that the extension is unjustified. The detainees are in emotional turmoil from the disturbing incident they experienced. The incident was unprecedented: Molotov cocktails and rocks were thrown, fires set, and property vandalized, in the heart of Israel, and they found themselves in remand. These are people who defended an entire neighborhood, instead of the police, who simply had not come, and the police continued to abandon them in court. We will consider filing an appeal.”
Several hours prior to the deliberation, Honenu Attorney Adi Keidar, who is representing the three detainees stated that, “the deadly attack which began last night [in Lod] is continuing today at the police station. Instead of detaining the Arab rioters, the police are detaining and interrogating only the Jews who defended their own lives and the lives of others. The detainees are all normative citizens who are still processing the emotional turmoil they feel from the terror attack they experienced. The same police who abandoned Jews last night are sending Arabs the message that Jewish blood is cheap. There is serious concern that the rioting will continue.”
Honenu Attorney Adi Keidar speaking after the deliberation; Video credit: Honenu