Imprisoned Youth Released to House Arrest

Last night, the High Court accepted part of the appeal on behalf of the minor indicted for the crimes of arson against the Dor Mezion Church, three additional acts of arson and puncturing tires as part of a “price tag” operation.

The youth was arrested under the guise of the Shin Bet investigation of the murder in Duma, although he is not accused of involvement in the murder.

The youth has admitted to the crimes he is accused of and has been indicted for four acts of arson, two of tire puncturing in Beit Tsefafa as well as membership in a terrorist group.

Judge Dana Marshak Marom of the Central District Court ordered the youth to be held until the end of judicial proceedings against him, however, last night High Court Judge Chanan Meltzer accepted the appeal and among other issues ruled: “After I studied the appeal and its appendices and heard the claims from all sides, after considerable consideration I have reached the conclusion to accept the appeal in part. Accordingly, the file will be sent back to the honorable Central District Court for it to weigh the possibility that the appellant be released to ‘complete house arrest’ with electronic surveillance along with other conditions.”

Judge Meltzer accepted Attorney Ben Gvir ‘s claims of the special sensitivity of incarceration of minors and the fact that such incarceration should be done only as a last resort. He determined that, “Unlike the incarceration of adults, when we are dealing with minors, as early as the arrest and until judicial proceedings are concluded, the Court must give serious consideration to the question of rehabilitation. Their future lies ahead of them, and a prison stay is liable to have wide-ranging ramifications.”

Judge Meltzer also discussed the conditions under which the accused minor was being held according to Shin Bet orders, and determined that, “In addition, the current prison conditions are quite harsh since he is held separately for reasons of security (and thus not allowed to use the telephone) and family visits are severely restricted. These issues, too, must be addressed.”

Concerning interrogation tactics and pressure and threats on the accused, Judge Meltzer determined that these should be addressed under the auspices of the main file against him. In the end, it was determined that the appellate suggest to the honorable District Court a “place of supervision” wherein he can be kept under electronic supervision, and then be released under surveillance conditions as well as bond.

Attorneys Itamar Ben Gvir and Eldan Danino who submitted the appeal say, “Judge Meltzer did well when he clarified that imprisonment is not meant to be an advance on a judicial sentencing and price tag prisoners have to be treated like all others. However, we did hope that the High Court would also relate to the defects in the arrest and interrogation procedures of the minor, including the use of inappropriate tactics that threatened my client and brought him to admit to acts he never did.”

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