Supreme Court backs detaining W. Bank minor for anti-Palestinian violence
The defendant-minor and seven other unidentified persons came to the Palestinian village of Surta armed with weapons, and attacked four Palestinian residences.
By YONAH JEREMY BOBStudents from the University of Birzeit clash with Israeli security forces (unseen) near the West Bank city of Ramallah, on July 24, 2017. (photo credit: FLASH90)
The Supreme Court said on Wednesday that it has endorsed the detention until the end of trial of a Jewish minor and resident of Samaria who was previously indicted for anti-Palestinian violence and other charges.An indictment against the minor was filed in the Central District Juvenile Court on February 23, which ordered him detained until the end of the trial, leading to the appeal.The Supreme Court ruling was handed down by Justice Yosef Elron, known to be part of the court’s conservative wing.According to the indictment, on January 4, the defendant-minor and seven other unidentified persons came to the Palestinian village of Surat armed with IDF-issued stun grenades, large rocks, sharp objects for use as weapons and with face masks to obscure their identities.They used their rocks and stun grenades to attack four Palestinian residents, including the Palestinians themselves, as well as nearby cars, according to the indictment.A 61-year-old Palestinian man was injured in their attack, in which he was hit in the head with broken glass, a 17-year-old Palestinian girl was injured, and a pregnant Palestinian woman was injured, according to the indictment.The Palestinian women and other members of the four families also went into emotional shock from the alleged attack.The defendant was charged with causing physical harm in racist circumstances, with conspiracy to commit racist felonies, an attempt to destroy a residence using explosive materials, illegal weapons possession and intentional destruction of property.Further, the defendant perpetrated these acts in violation of house arrest which he had been sent to, according to the indictment.In February, Honenu lawyers Adi Keidar and Moshe Pulaski attacked the indictment, saying that they could see that “there is only one piece of forensic evidence against the minor, with no supporting evidence of any kind.”
The Jerusalem Post understands that the evidence relates to DNA that allowed identification of the defendant, as opposed to the other seven unidentified perpetrators.The indictment comes after two other suspects were extensively questioned, with an original list of up to five suspects.
