On the afternoon of Wednesday, 6 Menachem Av, Ashkelon Magistrate Court Judge Adi Eisdorfer rejected a demand by the police for a 24-hour remand extension and ordered the release of all of the protesters who were detained the previous day at a demonstration opposite the Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon at which a hunger-striking terrorist is being treated. The detainees were released under varying restrictive conditions.

During the deliberation at the Ashkelon Magistrate Court it became known that one of the detainees was badly beaten by policemen during the course of his detention. Due to his injuries, during the night following the detention the detainee was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with several fractures in his arm. At the deliberation a police representative stated that the matter was being investigated by the Police Investigation Unit.

Honenu Attorney Avichai Hajbi, who represented three of the detainees, stated after the deliberation that, “The conduct of the police was no less than brutal. In the coming days we will file a complaint with the Police Investigation Unit against the policemen who beat the protesters without cause and in violation of the law.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)