Supreme Court orders consideration of remand alternative

Sunday, May 13, 2018, 11:12 Supreme Court Justice Yael Willner ordered a youth involved with the Kfar Duma case, whose remand has been extended numerous times, to be examined by the Probation Service for an expert opinion regarding the possibility of an alternative to remand. At the deliberation Honenu Attorney Adi Keidar, who is representing the youth, who was a minor at the time of the Kfar Duma arson incident, demanded the release his client, who has been under remand for approximately two and a half years.
During the deliberation Justice Willner stated that the remand has been very long and unusually so. Additionally she stated that the emotional state of the youth was indeed not good. In light of the detainee’s status, Justice Willner recommended that the Probation Service begin the process of examining an alternative to remand. Following pressure from Justice Willner, the State of Israel agreed to have the Probation Service provide an expert opinion, but did not agree to necessarily accept their recommendation.
Justice Willner ruled to extend the remand of the minor by 45 days, to send him to the Probation Service for an expert opinion, and to hold a deliberation on his case immediately after the ruling in the trial within a trial, which is scheduled for approximately one month’s time.
Honenu Attorney Adi Keidar stated that, “After two and a half years of imprisonment under very severe conditions which have exacerbated the emotional state of the detainee, who was a minor at the time of the [Kfar Duma] incident, the Supreme Court ordered an expert opinion on his remand. We would like to reiterate that the detainee has undergone brutal interrogations, the fact of which is not disputed currently. We hope that the combination of the expected verdict of the upcoming trial within a trial and this Supreme Court decision is the light at the end of the tunnel before the youth’s release and the ruling in his case.”