Russian Compound, Jerusalem - Shooting, Remand Extension

Translation: Marganit W.

Russian Compound

Judge: Kobi Raz

Investigator: Avi Akiva

Defense: Firas

The detainee, Muhammad Straich, 17 years old, from a village in the Ramallah area, has been detained for 12 days.

Attorney Firas states that the defendant is suspected of armed assault and membership in an illegal organization. His remand extension was decided after a two-minute debate. There were no further details because the session was declared "in camera" and we were barred from attending.

We arrived at 10 PM, as usual, but it turned out that in summer (which apparently began today) sessions start an hour later, at 11. We joined lawyers, policemen and prison guards in the waiting room, where we found out that there are 11 cases in the docket; all except two detainees are barred from meeting their attorneys.

Eventually, it turned out that there was an error, and we were able to attend only one session.

While waiting, when the court was already in session, we asked to be admitted. But Avi Akiva insisted that we leave the court and wait in the waiting room. We argued that in the last two years we had been allowed to attend hearings of "barred detainees" when the defense argues before the court (while separated from the detainee). The answer we got was categorical:

It was a mistake.

The investigator reiterated the legal term "in camera."