On the afternoon of Wednesday, 24 Shevat, a deliberation took place at the Central District Court in Lod on the case of administrative detainee Meir Ettinger who has been on a hunger strike for the past 16 days, during which time he lost consciousness. Ettinger has been under administrative detention for six months.

At the deliberation the State requested that the court authorize the order signed this week by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon which extends Ettinger’s administrative detention by four months. Judge Avraham Tal postponed the decision by three weeks, until February 14 Adar 1.

During the deliberation Honenu Attorney Yuval Zemer, who is representing Ettinger, pleaded that the request to authorize the order be rejected, as the detention order was served to him only because of his opinions. Zemer claims that the State is attempting to re-educate Ettinger by means of the detention and placing him in solitary confinement under harsh conditions.

“In the State of Israel in the year 2016, a man has sat in remand for half a year because his opinions are not acceptable to the law enforcement authorities in Israel,” said Honenu Attorney Yuval Zemer after the deliberation. “[The State] has requested that the remand be extended by four months, because after six months in remand the ‘re-education’ has not succeeded in changing his opinions.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)