Noam Federman is free - or almost so. Jerusalem District Court Judge David Heshin ordered an end to his 8-month administrative detention yesterday, but said that Federman must remain in prison until Friday. This is so that the army/GSS can, if it wants, formulate alternative restrictions for him.
This morning, Federman appealed to the Supreme Court against the ruling to leave him in prison until Friday.
The terms of administrative detention are that no charges are filed, and in fact the prisoner is not allowed to know the nature of the suspicions against him. The GSS is now considering house arrest for Federman, or possibly banishment from Judea and Samaria; he lives in Hevron, in the heart of Judea.
Shmuel Medad, chairman of the Honenu association - an organization that offers aid to soldiers and citizens who face legal difficulties as a result of the security situation - said, "The court ruling shows a failure by the Shabak (GSS). It fought so hard to perpetuate the administrative detention, and then the court came along and canceled the order in the face of the Defense Minister and the Shabak."
Elisheva Federman, Noam's wife and mother of their seven children - aged 12.5 and under - who has been very critical of the Shabak, said yesterday, "We are finally beginning to see justice coming to light. We should have been able to celebrate with him today and have him come home with us today. But because of games of honor for the Shabak, he has to stay in for another few days - but this, too, won't break us."
Noam Federman was held under very difficult conditions, and was allowed only sporadic, short and restricted visits with his family.
"We knew all along," Elisheva said, "that this entire detention was totally based in lies, even though our hands were tied and our eyes were blindfolded because of the 'secret information' that we were not allowed to see... I hope that the Shabak will behave maturely and will not take advantage of the next few days to impose other restrictions on Noam. If it does, we will continue to fight until he is completely free."
This morning, Federman appealed to the Supreme Court against the ruling to leave him in prison until Friday.
The terms of administrative detention are that no charges are filed, and in fact the prisoner is not allowed to know the nature of the suspicions against him. The GSS is now considering house arrest for Federman, or possibly banishment from Judea and Samaria; he lives in Hevron, in the heart of Judea.
Shmuel Medad, chairman of the Honenu association - an organization that offers aid to soldiers and citizens who face legal difficulties as a result of the security situation - said, "The court ruling shows a failure by the Shabak (GSS). It fought so hard to perpetuate the administrative detention, and then the court came along and canceled the order in the face of the Defense Minister and the Shabak."
Elisheva Federman, Noam's wife and mother of their seven children - aged 12.5 and under - who has been very critical of the Shabak, said yesterday, "We are finally beginning to see justice coming to light. We should have been able to celebrate with him today and have him come home with us today. But because of games of honor for the Shabak, he has to stay in for another few days - but this, too, won't break us."
Noam Federman was held under very difficult conditions, and was allowed only sporadic, short and restricted visits with his family.
"We knew all along," Elisheva said, "that this entire detention was totally based in lies, even though our hands were tied and our eyes were blindfolded because of the 'secret information' that we were not allowed to see... I hope that the Shabak will behave maturely and will not take advantage of the next few days to impose other restrictions on Noam. If it does, we will continue to fight until he is completely free."