Detectives from the Central Unit of the Shai Police traveled all the way to Afula in order to falsely detain a father in front of several of his five young children, despite his explanations of the mistake to the policemen. Honenu’s legal staff immediately started preparing a civil suit for false detention, which is only one of many suits filed recently under similar circumstances.

The incident occurred on motzei Shabbos, the eve of 1 Rosh Chodesh Iyar. Etiel Zuaretz, a Shilo Bloc resident was staying with his family at the home of relatives in Afula. Approximately an hour and a half after Shabbos ended, two policemen from the Afula Police suddenly arrived and called out to Zuaretz to come out into the yard and claimed that his car had been involved in a traffic accident.

Zuaretz, surprised, went out to the street holding his four-month old daughter. Several police detectives from the Department of Nationalist Crime in the Central Unit of Shai Police who were waiting in ambush on the street, quickly surrounded him and informed him that he had violated an administrative order and therefore was being detained.

Zuaretz attempted to explain that the order was applicable only in Yehuda and Shomron. However, as Zuaretz reported to Honenu, a detective by the name of Shai Erez twisted his arm and ordered him to hand his baby to his wife or else he would, “Knock him to the ground with his baby.”

Etiel’s wife presented the order, which was signed by the IDF Central District Commander to the policemen, and read out loud the part of the order which states that the order applies only to the regions of Yehuda and Shomron. When Zuaretz is in those regions he is under house arrest at night. Zuaretz had also of his own accord informed the police that he would spend the last day of Pesach and the Shabbos which immediately followed, in Afula and not at his temporary home at which he is staying for the duration of the administrative order.

Despite Zuaretz’s explanations he was taken into the police car in front of his children, one of whom burst into tears, and informed that he would be taken to the Shai District police station.

Only after they reached Modi’in and Zuaretz had explained to the policemen over and over again that a mistake had occurred, did the detectives stop the car. After several minutes of phone calls the police understood what the mistake was. They made a U-turn and at dawn returned Zuaretz to Afula. He was released without an apology for the false detention. He was neither taken to a police station nor interrogated.

Zuaretz contacted Honenu’s staff, who clarified the details and began preparing to file a civil suit against the police and detectives of the Central Unit of the Shai District.

Honenu notes that this is a particularly serious incident in which a team of detectives was sent a long distance for the specific purpose of carrying out a false detention. Honenu Attorney Menashe Yado recently filed civil suits in several similar cases of false detentions of Jews under administrative orders which are currently being arbitrated in various courts.

Honenu: “The police and the ISA have decided to obsessively torment a particular public with ceaseless harassment and false detentions. We hope that the courts will put the police in their place and that the police will be penalized for their illegal actions.”

Zuaretz was served an administrative detention order in October 2015. As with all administrative orders, no evidence was presented and he was not brought to trial.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)