Video: Demonstrations against the legal revolution resume across the country (Photo: Shlomi Gabay, Gilad First, Amir Shouni, Shaf, Aviv Hasidov.)
The Hadera Magistrate's Court on Thursday revoked restrictive conditions imposed on two Brothers in Arms activists who were arrested last week while demonstrating at the entrance to a police station in Hadera. The judge ruled that the conditions were illegal, and that a police officer could not remove a protester for 30 days. This evening at 18:00 P.M., dozens of demonstrators returned and stood in front of Netanyahu's residence in Caesarea. The Israel Police said that Menashe District police officers are deployed at the site in order to secure the protest, maintain security at the site and direct traffic.
Contrary to the liberal spirit displayed by senior police officers in support of the right to demonstrate without any need for prior approval, in the courtroom, an Israeli police representative argued exactly the opposite. "When you arrive without any authorization to hold demonstrations at the gates of the station, it is a demonstration that is being conducted illegally," Maj. Roy Masouri on behalf of the Hadera station told Judge Idit Peled. However, the judge agreed to attorney Shira Kedar, who represents the array of detainees protesting against the legal revolution, and canceled all the conditions.
"We believe that the purpose of the condition is actually to 'suffocate' the freedom of demonstration," Kedar told the judge, "additional demonstrations are planned in the same places, and the police want to distance the person from those demonstrations. We are not in administrative detention." She also revealed: "We are working through civil channels to exercise our rights regarding violations committed by the police as part of these false arrests."
"The police are not political, do not and will not take any political position and nothing that implies this when carrying out their duties," enraged Chief Superintendent Roy Masouri, who represented the Hadera police station.
One of the detainees who challenged the terms of his release is Eyal Naveh, one of the leaders of the Brothers in Arms protest, who this week told Erel Segal and David Wertheim on FM103 radio about police violence at this demonstration and about the conduct. "People were picked like in dark regimes for no reason. They brought us into closed rooms, after hours they transferred us to remote stations," he said.
The police attributed to Neveh offenses of participating in rioting and unlawful assembly and signed him on bail on grounds of obstruction of investigation proceedings and endangering public safety. He was expelled from Caesarea even though he did not demonstrate in Caesarea at all, but came directly to support the detainees at the gates of the Hadera police station.
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Judge Peled watched a video from an event presented to her by Adv. Kedar. "I was not presented with an action report or any other evidence," the judge said of the police's demands. "I did not find that there was sufficient evidence of the existence of reasonable grounds for suspicion of committing the offenses of which the appellant was suspected, nor did I find any concern on the part of the appellant that the investigation would be disrupted or that there was a danger from him that would justify leaving the conditions set by the officer in place." She accepted the appeal and cancelled all the restrictive conditions imposed on Naveh.
The same is true of Yehuda Pollak, another demonstrator who was arrested. "He was taken randomly, he did not riot in an unusual way, and he was no different from the other demonstrators," Kedar argued. "We see some kind of policy here. I call it hysterical enforcement. The police acted in a manner inappropriate to operational policing behavior."
The police representative was forced to agree to cancel the restrictive conditions, after the judge agreed with Kedar that the officer at the Hadera station exceeded his authority. "The consent is against the background of the legal problem that exists. I have no choice." He also agreed to return a drum confiscated by the police.
Brothers in Arms said: "The police exceeded their authority to deal with the demonstration in front of the Prime Minister's residence last Friday. The court also ruled that the police made a mistake when they attributed dangerousness and fear of obstruction of investigation by Brothers in Arms detainees, and ordered them to return property they confiscated. All suspicions dissipated. The court's decision stands as a warning sign to Ben-Gvir and his followers – the protest will not be stopped by violence and harassment. Just as we blocked the dictatorial legislation and the evasion law, we will continue to protest at any time and place until we entrench the State of Israel as Jewish and democratic for generations."
The Israel Police has not yet received a response on the matter.
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