Police arrest and harrass innocent young religious Jew from Beit El – out hiking with his family
Police arrest 18-year-old youth for participation in violent clash, ignore proof he was not involved.
An 18-year-old youth from the town of Beit El was arrested near the town of Kochav Hashachar in Israel’s Binyamin Region.
According to reports by Honenu, a legal aid organization the arrested youth was suspected of participating in a violent clash provoked by residents of the nearby Baladim outpost. The youths reportedly threw rocks at IDF and police forces.
The report also said the youth was arrested while hiking with his father. Both the young man and his father told police officers that the youth had spent all the relevant hours at his father’s side, and had not participated in the clash.
The father arrived at a local police station to give testimony, but, the legal aid organization alleges, “because of the interrogators’ negligence, he was not able to testify before Shabbat (Sabbath) began.”
On Saturday night, Jerusalem’s Hashalom Court ordered the arrested youth freed under restrictive conditions.
Honenu attorney Nati Rom will represent the defendant in court.
“The accused was hiking with his family during the entire duration of the event,” Rom said. “The family was celebrating the youth’s birthday on a hiking trail, far away from the scene of the incident. Their pleas fell on deaf ears, and picture and videos were ignored. Unfortunately, the young man spent an entire Shabbat in jail.”
“This is heartlessness on the part of the police, who did not accept the youth’s alibi. It is unacceptable for the police to vent their frustration at not finding suspects and incarcerate an innocent person who did nothing wrong.”
