Wednesday, March 23, 2022, 10:21 On Tuesday, March 22, Judge Ruth Lorch, the President of the Lod District Court, shortened the remand of the administrative detainee who has been held for approximately one month without being indicted. Judge Lorch also leveled criticism at security authorities for the remand conditions of the detainee. During the hearing, which was held behind closed doors, Honenu Attorney Adi Keidar, who is representing the detainee, demanded that the administrative order be canceled in light of both the lack of evidence necessary to indict the detainee and the humiliating treatment he received at the GSS interrogation facility.
Judge Lorch: “The treatment of the respondent did indeed deviate from what is acceptable, as his attorney claimed. He was held in remand for the purpose of investigation and interrogated under warning with regard to several incidents, but despite all that, a decision was made not to indict him.”
Keidar described the detainee’s disgraceful remand conditions: “He is in a GSS interrogation room at one of the prisons, without a bed, without the right to keep personal articles or to make purchases at the prison canteen. He is always dressed in a prison uniform, although there has not been a decision about his continuous place of imprisonment, as is required by law.”
In response, Judge Lorch leveled criticism at the GSS: “From what the GSS representative related about remand conditions, it has been clarified that only after two weeks from the day of [the detainee’s] imprisonment were his remand conditions arranged according to regulations, and that is regrettable.”
In her decision, Judge Lorch partially accepted Keidar’s claims: “In light of the fact that the respondent has been imprisoned under remand for approximately one month, and after I gave consideration to the claims of his attorney, particularly with regard to the remand conditions, I have been convinced that it is correct to shorten the period of administrative detention by 16 days.”
Honenu Attorney Adi Keidar: “The Lod District Court shortened the length of the administrative detention. This is a quite precedential decision that takes into account the difficulty of holding a hearing of this type and on the other hand, in an unusual manner, sends a definite message of criticism to the security authorities, the defense minister and the GSS, with regard to the remand conditions, which were also taken into consideration in the court’s decision. We will consider our next steps in relation to this.”