On the night of Monday, 25 Adar-II, policemen from the Unit of Nationalist Crime in the Central Unit of the Yehuda and Shomron Police and ISA forces detained three Jewish men who were then taken for interrogation to an ISA facility. A gag order was placed on details of the case and the detainees have not been allowed to meet with an attorney.

The following day Rishon L’Tzion Magistrate Court Judge Avraham Hyman rejected a police demand for a 10-day remand extension and extended the detainees’ remand by only six days. Honenu filed an appeal on the extension.

Dozens of the detainees’ relatives and friends protested opposite the residence of the head of the ISA, Yoram Cohen, in Jerusalem on Wednesday, 27 Adar-II. The protesters called on the head of the ISA to allow the detainees to meet with an attorney and demanded that the ISA refrain from torturing the detainees held in the ISA facilities.

On Thursday morningZ the Central District Court in Lod rejected the appeal filed by Honenu on the remand extension of the three ISA detainees. Thus the decision by the Rishon L’Tzion Magistrate Court to extend their remand until Monday, 3 Nissan still stands. Honenu Attorney Adi Kedar filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of Israel on the the District Court’s decision.

Several months ago a number of Jewish youths were detained and served with orders prohibiting them from meeting with an attorney. Then also a gag order was placed on publicizing details of the investigation. After the youths were interrogated in ISA facilities, without meeting with an attorney, it was revealed that during their interrogations, unusual means including torture, were used on them. Some of the youths were released after it turned out that they had no connection to the incident for which they were interrogated.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)