Israel’s Supreme Court on Sunday, 1 Teves, ruled against the petition filed on behalf of Jewish detainees whom are being held by administrative order and are not being permitted to meet with their lawyers. The petition was filed by two minors and an adult being held by the ISA (Israel Security Agency – Shin Bet) for the past two weeks.

The nature of an administrative order is that they are held without being charged for a crime, and in this case, being prevented from meeting with legal representation. Hence they cannot defend themselves since there are no formal charges and no legal process.

According to the information available, the three are being detained for their alleged connection to a most serious crime that is being investigated, details being blocked by a gag order. Honenu attorneys Chai Haber, Adi Kedar and Itamar Ben-Givir have done been permitted to meet with their clients.

The attorneys pointed out their clients do not have a criminal record but this was of no avail, as the state is maintaining the seriousness of the crime is such that it warrants these extreme measures, which Honenu explains is a gross violation of their most basic rights. Ben-Givir warns of the “slippery slope” involved in depriving citizens in a democratic society of their most basic rights.

Supreme Court Judge Salim Jubran denied the appellants request, backing the ISA refusal to permit them to meet with attorneys. The court explained that due to the severity of the suspicions against the suspects, there is justification to deny their request to meet with counsel in the interest of permitting the investigation to continue unimpeded and unhampered.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)