The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court today (Sunday) ordered the release of 15 Jewish boys and young men who were arrested during the holiday in the Old City of Jerusalem.
The boys were arrested on suspicion of attempting to break into the Temple Mount and conduct a ceremony of sacrificing the "two loaves of bread" that was customary on Shavuot during the days of the Temple.
At the hearing, the police claimed that the boys posed a 'danger' and requested an extension of their detention.
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Attorneys Daniel Shamshilashvili and Moshe Polsky of Mhonenu, representing the boys, argued that there was no basis for the boys' arrest. The court accepted the attorneys' argument, ordered the boys' release, and rejected the police's request to delay the execution of the release decision.
Attorney Shamshilashvili: "I call on the authorities responsible for this to examine the conduct of the investigative unit, which time after time wastes resources and public money on unnecessary arrests and hearings, while ignoring guiding judicial decisions on the subject. The station would do well to deal with the real crime that is rising in its area of responsibility, specifically towards worshippers, rather than their failed persecution.".
Attorney Polsky said: "The Israel Police is well aware that in all previous cases of this kind, the courts have repeatedly rejected requests to extend the detention of young people. Hence, there was no justification whatsoever for the long detention of 11 young people, 4 of whom were minors, in the midst of the Shavuot holiday. They were left in detention until Saturday night, while being transported and transported in the midst of the holiday, to a detention center in Tel Aviv and transported and transported back to the court in Jerusalem on Saturday night.".
""The Israel Police 'fear' time and again about 'animal cruelty' due to the transportation of a goat through the streets of the Old City, but it has no value or regard for unnecessary arrests of citizens that involve significant suffering and harm to the detainees, or for widespread desecration of Shabbat and holidays.".
""The court expressed its bewilderment as to why the investigative unit is seeking to extend the detention of the 11 young men when on all previous occasions the police requests were rejected by various judicial authorities, and because of this and the exceptions to the detention request, the court exceptionally rejected the request for a stay of execution requested by the police, which was intended to extend the detention of the young men by another day. We call on the Israel Police to start doing their job and fight the rising crime and not waste public resources.".
