HAIFA, May 21, 2018 (WAFA) - After an overnight hearing that lasted for nine hours, the Haifa Magistrates’ Court decided early Monday to release the 19 protesters detained since Friday evening during the demonstrations in Haifa.
Twelve of the 19 protesters were released immediately, and seven continue to be held till 2 p.m. pending a possible appeal by the state.
The Israeli police responded with extreme violence against the peaceful protesters in Haifa, predominantly Palestinian citizens of Israel, demonstrating against the mass killing and wounding of Gaza protesters by the Israeli military over the last seven weeks during the “Great March of Return”.
Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, in cooperation with volunteer lawyers, and the Human Rights Defenders Fund, represented the protesters and demanded the immediate release of all without conditions.
Adalah General Director Attorney Hassan Jabareen, who represented the detained protesters at the hearing on Sunday night, said, “We succeeded to turn the courtroom from a space used against protestors into a space where police violence was exposed and rejected. This shift was possible due to social media, due to all of the videos, photos, and testimonies that were posted by the people that told the true story of what happened on Friday night. It was this documentation that convinced the court that it could not condone such brutal behavior by the police.”
He added: “We also showed the absurdity of charging seven people with attacking police officers, when those seven people were themselves wounded and some of them even had to be hospitalized because due to attacks by police.”
Jabareen said that “contrary to the claims of the police, the law does not require a permit for this protest. It was not a demonstration to walk from place to place. It was illegal for the police to dismantle it.”
Jafar Farah, the director of Mossawa – The Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens of Israel, was hospitalized for urgent care following his arrest on Friday night. While in custody at the Haifa police station, he was beaten severely breaking his knee. Farah was among the 12 who were released on Monday morning, without conditions.
M.K.
