Yeshiva student falsely detained near Yitzhar

Thursday, September 6, 14:51 A student of Yitzhar’s Yeshivat Od Yosef Chai was falsely detained late this morning at the Yitzhar Junction on a claim that he violated an administrative restraining order. Approximately two hours later he was released after it became clear that there was no order limiting his movement within the area of Yehuda and Shomron. The police refused his request for a document stating that he was detained and held in their custody.
Honenu asserts that recently the police have frequently falsely detained Yehuda and Shomron residents. It appears that the atmosphere created by certain politicians and media personalities delegitimizing the residents of Yehuda and Shomron has led to a intolerable situation in which the rights of the residents are easily violated. Several times in the past false detentions have resulted in civil suits against the police with sizable sums of money awarded to the claimant. Honenu calls on on anyone who has been falsely detained or arrested not to concede and to demand his or her legal rights.
Y., a student at Yitzhar’s Yeshivat Od Yosef Chai, left the yeshiva today in the late morning hours for a dental appointment in Ariel. As he was hitch-hiking from the Yitzhar Junction several border policemen approached him. Y. showed them his ID card as requested and then they informed him that he was being detained on suspicion of violating a military order, specifically an administrative restraining order.
Y. responded that he did not know what they were taking about and that he had never received a military order of any kind. Despite his insistence that he was not under any restrictions and his request that they verify the matter, Y. was detained and taken by police car to the Ariel Police Station.
After approximately two hours in remand the policemen at the station informed Y. that indeed he is not under a restraining order and released him. Y., who missed his dental appointment, requested a document from the police stating that he had been detained. The police refused to give Y. such a document and he left the station for Yitzhar. Y. had consulted with Honenu from the moment he had been detained and was advised to file a civil suit on the false detention.
Attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir, who was requested by Honenu to handle the suit, said in response that, “This is a serious incident, the sort of which we have encountered many times in the past. Youth are repeatedly detained without just cause, in violation of the law. We intend to file a civil suit against the police. We hope that the police will realize that they must pay for their mistakes.”