The Knesset Law Committee has approved proposed legislation that will restrict police handcuffing of suspects in public places. The proposal, submitted by Likud MK Gideon Saar, stipulates that a detainee on his way in and out of court, for instance, will not be handcuffed unless there is a reasonable suspicion that the suspect will escape, cause damage, or the like.
Saar said that handcuffing non-convicted suspects, especially those suspected of non-violent crimes, causes them undue humiliation. "The impression is that this is done in order to break their spirit for interrogation purposes," Saar said.
Law Committee Chairman MK Michael Eitan said that the committee worked hard to find the proper balance between human dignity and the need to protect the public. "The State of Israel can be proud of this legislation," he said. "The whole world recently saw Michael Jackson on television, handcuffed and accompanied by policemen, with the purpose of humiliating him. This legislation renders Israel one of the top countries in the world in maintaining human dignity, and will reduce to a minimum the incidents in which a suspect is needlessly shamed by being handcuffed in public."
Saar said that handcuffing non-convicted suspects, especially those suspected of non-violent crimes, causes them undue humiliation. "The impression is that this is done in order to break their spirit for interrogation purposes," Saar said.
Law Committee Chairman MK Michael Eitan said that the committee worked hard to find the proper balance between human dignity and the need to protect the public. "The State of Israel can be proud of this legislation," he said. "The whole world recently saw Michael Jackson on television, handcuffed and accompanied by policemen, with the purpose of humiliating him. This legislation renders Israel one of the top countries in the world in maintaining human dignity, and will reduce to a minimum the incidents in which a suspect is needlessly shamed by being handcuffed in public."