The Supreme Court on Thursday opened a hearing regarding the State's request to extend the detention of Saar Ofir, who has been in custody for nine months on serious charges of kidnapping and assaulting a Palestinian Arab terrorist.
His family is asking the judges to release him to house arrest until his trial begins.
Dozens of supporters attended the courtroom, including Knesset members Tally Gotliv and Limor Son Har-Melech. When Ofir entered the courtroom, he was greeted with applause and encouraging shouts, while his younger brother, who had not seen him for nine months, burst into tears.
"We came to the Supreme Court on behalf of Saar. The prosecution refuses to let go and is torturing him. The trial has not yet started, and we will come to court with a long defense statement that is already prepared and will prove his innocence," his mother, Dr. Nirit Ofir, told Israel National News - Arutz Sheva.
"The Israeli public needs to know that there are cases which are truly false," she added. "This can happen to anyone. Today it is my son - tomorrow it could be the son of anyone else."
His attorney, Adv. Romach Shavit, added, "Nine months have passed, and the trial has not begun. We still have not been given the opportunity to prove his innocence."
Also present in the courtroom was Dr. Valentina Gusak, whose daughter Margarita was murdered at the Nova music festival. She called on the court to stop harming Ofir and addressed him directly. "Thank you for going there on October 7. If there had been more people like you, fewer children would have been killed. We will free you - you are the true hero," Gusak told Ofir.