On the afternoon of Thursday, 2 Marcheshvan, a minor was detained during a demonstration which took place at the site of the stabbing attack which occurred earlier that day near the Shomron Brigade Base in which two people were injured.

Despite the fact that the minor was not brought to a court deliberation which was held on Friday morning, Jerusalem Magistrates Court Judge Yaron Mientkavich accepted the police request and decided to extend the minor’s remand by four days for the purpose of carrying out an investigation.

Honenu Attorney Nati Rom filed an appeal with the Jerusalem District Court in which he stated that, “This is a classic case in which there is no cause to suspect the minor of obstructing legal proceedings…” The Jerusalem District Court accepted Rom’s appeal, overturned the lower court’s decision, and ordered the minor’s release to an alternative to remand.

At the opening of his decision Jerusalem District Court Judge Alexander Ron leveled severe criticism at the conduct of the Israeli Police for not having taken the trouble to bring the minor to the two deliberations which were held for his case: “The proceedings were scheduled for a deliberation not a short time ago. The distance between the [Jerusalem] Magistrates Court and this court is not great and prima facie; this conduct is unacceptable. Unfortunately, this is not the first decision this week that has been handed down in the absence of a litigant under strange circumstances, when for some reason, despite the ample time, the suspect was not brought to the court.”

Judge Ron also noted that the need for an investigation was not clear and chose to give suitable consideration to the fact that the litigant was a 15-year old minor without a criminal record and therefore decided to authorize an alternative to remand and the immediate release of the minor. Due to the late hour on Friday afternoon the court’s administrative office had already closed. Only with the decisive assistance of Honenu did the minor succeed in being released only minutes before Shabbos.

Honenu Attorney Nati Rom, who is representing the minor, commented on the case: “It is unfortunate to see yet another needless remand of a minor, who has absolutely no connection to the needs of the investigation, for solely punitive purposes. It is a shame that the Israel Police did not even take the trouble to bring the suspect to the court which decided to release the minor before Shabbos. Despite many obstacles, through great efforts we succeeded in implementing the court decision and releasing the minor.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)