Ofer - Stone Throwing, Remand Extension

Translation: Marganit W.

It is the holiday of Succoth, so Jerusalem is full of holidaymakers and visitors,

The courts do not work at full capacity. Courtrooms 6 and 7 are operative, but in Courtroom 6 there are administrative hearings and I am barred from attending those.

We are used to the routines in the courts. Someone told me once that she likes the informality of the procedures. To me, however, the “camaraderie” in the court underlines the fact that what goes on in these courts are not real legal procedures.

I counted at least seven attorneys coming and going, talking with the suspects, a prosecutor leafing carelessly through a pile of cases and a judge pleading for quiet every so often. The only thing they were strict about was letting in family members only when their relative was in court.

Judge: Lieutenant-Colonel Shmuel Keidar

Prosecutor: Lieutenant Anan Sarhan

Defense: Ahlam Haddad

Suspect: Ali Sami Hassan Aadi – ID 401692066

Aadi is from Beit Ummar. He was arrested with others, all accused of throwing rocks and firebombs. He is 18 years old.

Atty. Haddad talks with the suspect and the judge hectors her to hurry. She says this is her first encounter with her client and she needs a few more minutes to talk to him.

This is nothing new: quite often the first encounter between suspect and counsel is in the court during the hearing.

The prosecutor requests a remand extension for the accused (Strictly speaking he should be called SUSPECT, but nobody pays attention).

The defense has no objection.

From the protocol: “As for the conditions of his interrogation I’d like to point out that he is illiterate in Arabic, so he does not know what is written in the admission statement to the police. In addition, my client reported to me that he had been beaten by people the interrogator let in, who forced him to say things that were not true…”

The attorney insisted these statements be included in the protocol, but otherwise, there was no reference to them.

The judge ordered remand extension until the conclusion of the proceedings.

An arraignment hearing was set for 19.11.14

Thus, in a five-minute hearing, a remand extension for five weeks was decided. The suspect had already been in detention for a week.

Thus, for several hours, in conveyer belt fashion, all the remand requests were approved. More power the State of Israel!