Sunday, March 26, 2023, 16:52 Approximately one week ago, the GSS detained a Jewish youth on suspicion of vandalizing Arab cars in the Shimon HaTzadik neighborhood of Jerusalem. The youth was interrogated and held for a week under severe conditions, including several days of solitary confinement. At a court hearing, the police came to an agreement with his attorney for his release to seven days of house arrest at his parents’ home. However, he was not indicted. In addition, the youth is forbidden to visit the Shimon HaTzadik neighborhood and the holy sites of Jerusalem for one month.
Honenu Attorney Nati Rom, who is representing the youth, stated in response to the court’s decision, “A youth who does not have a criminal record was unfortunately detained by the GSS for an entire week. He was abruptly taken in for interrogation, held for several days in solitary confinement and deprived of basic rights. The youth was released today, as we expected, and not indicted. The quickness with which the GSS uses illegitimate methods of interrogation that are supposed to be reserved for extreme cases of terror proves that someone in the system is mistaken. Suspects of similar offenses who do not wear a kippa or have payot are not brought to interrogations or held under the same conditions. We will continue to underscore that a right-wing activist with a kippa and payot also has civil rights.”