Ofer

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Observers: 
Nitza Aminov, Hava Halevi (reporting)
Feb-13-2013
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Morning

 

Translation: Marganit W.

 

This was a day full of half-trials.

 

Once more, we waited about an hour and a half outside the gate watching helplessly as a stream of people from the outer waiting area went inside. Many of them arrived long after us. We spoke with some of those waiting. A few of them wanted to know if I was Sylvia or Haya and were disappointed to find out that I was not. They were let in about an hour before us.

 

Around 11:30 we entered Courtroom 1. We could not figure out what was going on there, so we entered Courtroom 2  - with the same result. Eventually, in an attempt to catch some phrases and make head or tail of them, we sat in the back of Courtroom 5 and witnessed one remand extension hearing, at the end of which the judge announced it was time for lunch break and left. This was the extent of our observation today.

 

I spoke to Avi, who is in charge of security. I presented our complaints and he explained that their priority is to ensure the uninterrupted prosecution of the trials: this is why they let the relatives of the detaineesinfo-icon in first. This sounds correct and decent, except that on our way out we saw some of the people we had chatted with in the outer waiting area and in the waiting room where we had had tea. They were still waiting to be allowed in to attend their loved one’s hearings.

 

Why am I telling you all this? Because now it is clear that the excuse we were given for our long wait at the entrance – i.e., that the families have priority and that the court’s work should not be interrupted – is a false excuse. We saw with our own eyes, when we went out of the compound, that the relatives were milling about the court, waiting for the judges’ lunch break to be over and for the trials to resume.

 

Today, after my anger abated a little, I spoke to Hamed Hamdan, the public relations officer, and laid out our grievances. He listened patiently and sympathetically and suggested we write to the president of the court, Nathanel Benishu, and ask for an appointment so we can talk to him directly. We mean to do that, and if a meeting takes place, we will report to you.