Youth detained over order impossible to fulfill

Tuesday, October 27, 2015, 15:19 In Yad Binyamin, on the night of Monday, October 26, Rechovot Police detectives detained Shilo Ben-Shai on suspicion of violating an administrative house arrest order. According to the order served to him on September 11, he is under house arrest at night at a house which does not belong to him. His predicament is exacerbated by the fact that several months prior to receiving the house arrest order he was served with an administrative order banning him from entering Yehuda and Shomron, and therefore is forbidden to stay at his parents’ house in Kiryat Arba. The administrative house arrest order is signed by the GOC of the Home Front Command, Major General Yo’el Strik.
On September 17, Honenu attorney Menasheh Yado sent an urgent letter to Major General Strik on behalf of Ben-Shai and stressed that the order is not able to be fulfilled because the address in it is an apartment which is not in the ownership of the youth, who had in the past rented the apartment. Accordingly Yado stated that until the order is corrected the youth is unable to fulfill it. Yado demanded that the youth either be allowed to stay at his parents’ house in Kiryat Arba or alternatively that the State fund the rent for an apartment for him.
The legal adviser to the Home Front Command confirmed the receipt of the letter, both verbally and in an email, and informed Yado that they are aware of the problem and the issue is being handled.
However since then no solution has been presented by the Home Front Command and the police decided to detain Ben-Shai on the night of Monday, October 26 at a friend’s apartment in Yad Binyamin. Since receiving the order banning him from entering Yehuda and Shomron Ben-Shai has been forced to sleep at the homes of various friends.
On the morning of Tuesday, October 27 the youth was transferred to the Department of Jewish Nationalist Crime in the Central Unit of the Jerusalem Police, and the police announced that they intend to bring him to court.
Honenu regards the conduct of the police with severity: “The detention is illegal, despicable and contrary to statements from the legal adviser to the Home Front Command according to which Major General [Yo’el Strik] will handle the problem and find a solution,” said Honenu attorney Menasheh Yado.
“For approximately a month and a half the legal advisers of the Home Front Command and the Central Unit of the Jerusalem Police have not dealt with our claims and have not found a solution to the problem which they have recognized and which is impossible to ignore. How can a man be served with an order which obligates him to stay at an address which is not his place of residence? It is completely obvious that the order has no validity, and we have stated unequivocally that Mr. Ben-Shai is not fulfilling it because it is impossible to fulfill it. The Home Front Command requested time to find a solution, but instead of rectifying the situation, the system is abusing its governmental powers in order to illegally detain him.”