Attorneys Nati Rom and Adi Keidar of the Honenu legal organization, who represent three of the soldiers who have been arrested for allegedly abusing an imprisoned Hamas terrorist, revealed the soldiers' version of the incident.
At the beginning of the hearing on the appeal against the decision to extend their detention, Attorney Rom criticized the conduct of the Military Prosecutor's office towards the soldiers.
"They took our best soldiers, those whose lives were on the line for many months so as to defend our homeland, performing a task that no one would do in their place, with people who are among the worst of our enemies. The soldiers were arrested by a masked [police] force, as if they were the worst of criminals, without even asking for their version of events or asking the most basic questions," he said. "This is something that should never have happened and it will be remembered forever. The truth could have been investigated without the agressiveness employed by the Military Police."
Attorney Keidar said, "The criminal investigation division invested an unreasonable amount of resources to prove the delusional claims of a dispicable terrorist. On the other hand, there are eight regular people with families in detention. I hope that the court will understand the situation, understand that this detention is unnecessary and rule to stop it immediately."
Rom presented the soldiers' version of the events. "My clients were asked by the prison commander to conduct a search on several prisoners who were brought to the facility due to the high risk they represented."
"These prisoners were defined as violent and dangerous. During the body search of the terrorist, he began to attack them, tried to bite two soldiers, tried to grab the taser gun one of the soldiers was holding. So they had to use force to restrain him. The soldiers did not strip the terrorist during the search and used reasonable force given the situation. There is a lot of fake news in the media," he said.
Rom continued, "My clients completely deny the charges against them. No other person was willing to replace them in their position. The Military Advocate General would not last a week or a day in their task, which they carried out with devotion for many months on our behalf. If there is something to investigate, it should be done in a respectful manner. It is inconcieveable for them to favor the version of events of a wretched terrorist over the version of events of these heroic soldiers."
"These are people with no criminal record who came out after October 7 to fight for the country. One of my clients is a bereaved son who was arrested on the anniversary of his father's murder. His wife and children have been destroyed by this. This is a stain that will not be erased. The day my client is released we will all have to to ask for their forgiveness," Rom said.