Among them are some 30 minors (under the age of 18). Some youngsters were released this week after several days in prison.
Honenu official Ariel G. was asked if there is an "atmosphere" of leniency in the court system over the past few days, or is it the opposite? "The main thing is that fewer people are being indicted," he said. "But those who are being indicted are being given a very rough time."
"There is a certain judge in the Rishon LeTzion Magistrates Court, named Heiman, who is particularly antagonistic towards our cause," he said, "and we have asked several times for him to be disqualified to judge our cases - so far, in vain. He has said openly that the police are making a mistake in not asking for more of the arrestees to be held until the end of legal proceedings against them, and that he would fulfill these requests. Yesterday he did this with a rabbi in one of the yeshivot. There are witnesses who say he was merely standing at the side of the road, but the police claim he actually bit one of them - and Heiman ruled that he will remain in prison until the end of proceedings."
Ariel said that although many have been released, some have received several tough restrictions - including one girl who is under house arrest until the end of the proceedings. Some 30 minors are going before a judge today in Tel Aviv, and may or may not be released. Two adults have been indicted in Tel Aviv.
"In Be'er Sheva it's also wild," Ariel said. "Some were released yesterday, but there are several more cases coming up this week. All in all, some 30 people remain imprisoned in Be'er Sheva, ten more in Beit Gamliel, and ten in Jerusalem, including minors."
Among those who face serious charges - not necessarily fairly - is Ovadiah Ben-Natan. He was arrested last week at the protest near Shirat HaYam in Gush Katif, just before the so-called lynching incident took place there. He is 22 years old, his wife is eight months pregnant, and he studies in a Kollel Torah program.
Though the police provided no evidence for their charges against him for six days, yesterday the police suddenly said they had proof that Ovadiah "attacked a policeman and tried to snatch his weapon." Ovadiah and witnesses to the arrest say the story is totally fabricated.
Despite this, the police said yesterday they would ask tomorrow for his incarceration until the end of the proceedings against him.
The judge in the case, when reminded that the accused's wife is eight months pregnant, said, "He didn’t take his personal situation into account when he went to the site, and so I also don't have to take this into account." Ovadiah was arrested about 100 meters away from the site of the violence - and was treated violently himself by the police.
One youth who was arrested slightly before Ben-Natan told Arutz-7 today, "I was taken to Kisufim first, and then Ovadiah was brought in. I don't remember if it was a policeman or a soldier who brought him in. He was handcuffed, not like the others. There weren't enough chairs, so he was sitting on the floor, and one of the policemen, whose name I know, said that he should get up. Because of the handcuffs, however, it was hard for him to get up; the policeman saw this and jerked him up very strongly by the handcuffs until he was actually in a standing position. It was very painful and violent."
The youth further said, "The policemen there insulted and cursed us, and in some cases used physical violence. Because they knew that this was illegal, they put on vests so that we couldn't see their ID tags. We asked them to identify themselves, but they refused - also against the law. They forced us to be photographed, which is also against the law."
Asked during yesterday's special Knesset committee session about police violence and brutality, Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi said that the Police Investigation Bureau looks into all reported instances of police brutality, and that the Police Department acts in accordance with its findings.
MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union), speaking in the Knesset yesterday during the time allotted for one-minute speeches, noted the video - first reported on Arutz-7 - of special unit policemen brutalizing a youth at last Wednesday's road-blockings. "We must stop this now," Eldad said, "before it leads to bloodshed."
Two prominent detainees, Ariel Vangrover and Shai Malka - the heads of the Bayit Leumi (National Home) organization that ran the massive road-blocking campaign of several weeks ago - have been moved out of the Maasiyahu Prison to the Nitzan Prison. The significance of this move is that they will no longer be with the other "disengagement prisoners," but will rather be held with common criminals.
In an extreme incident in Be'er Sheva yesterday, the police forgot to bring the defendant to the trial. Hanoch Albert, who has been held in Nitzan Prison in Ramle for two months on charges of attacking a policeman during a rally, was to have had a hearing on his extended custody today. His family and lawyers, the prosecutor and the judge all waited in vain for the defendant to be brought to the courtroom - but in vain. The judge reprimanded the police for their mess-up, and said that she would demand explanations from the police.
Albert's lawyers demand that he be released immediately, and that his remand until the end of proceedings be canceled. The plea will be heard tomorrow afternoon - if the police remember to bring the defendant.
One detainee who was released yesterday after six days in prison in Be'er Sheva, said, "For the first time, I saw people [in the public 'system'] who truly want to do bad. It was scary."
His brother - another detainee still being held in Jerusalem's Russian Compound prison - had a different experience. "All in all, it's fun here," he said. "We learn Torah sometimes, and joke around, and the guards are not so bad." He said he and his friends do not want to "give in" and be released under the restrictions the judge gave them.
Honenu official Ariel G. was asked if there is an "atmosphere" of leniency in the court system over the past few days, or is it the opposite? "The main thing is that fewer people are being indicted," he said. "But those who are being indicted are being given a very rough time."
"There is a certain judge in the Rishon LeTzion Magistrates Court, named Heiman, who is particularly antagonistic towards our cause," he said, "and we have asked several times for him to be disqualified to judge our cases - so far, in vain. He has said openly that the police are making a mistake in not asking for more of the arrestees to be held until the end of legal proceedings against them, and that he would fulfill these requests. Yesterday he did this with a rabbi in one of the yeshivot. There are witnesses who say he was merely standing at the side of the road, but the police claim he actually bit one of them - and Heiman ruled that he will remain in prison until the end of proceedings."
Ariel said that although many have been released, some have received several tough restrictions - including one girl who is under house arrest until the end of the proceedings. Some 30 minors are going before a judge today in Tel Aviv, and may or may not be released. Two adults have been indicted in Tel Aviv.
"In Be'er Sheva it's also wild," Ariel said. "Some were released yesterday, but there are several more cases coming up this week. All in all, some 30 people remain imprisoned in Be'er Sheva, ten more in Beit Gamliel, and ten in Jerusalem, including minors."
Among those who face serious charges - not necessarily fairly - is Ovadiah Ben-Natan. He was arrested last week at the protest near Shirat HaYam in Gush Katif, just before the so-called lynching incident took place there. He is 22 years old, his wife is eight months pregnant, and he studies in a Kollel Torah program.
Though the police provided no evidence for their charges against him for six days, yesterday the police suddenly said they had proof that Ovadiah "attacked a policeman and tried to snatch his weapon." Ovadiah and witnesses to the arrest say the story is totally fabricated.
Despite this, the police said yesterday they would ask tomorrow for his incarceration until the end of the proceedings against him.
The judge in the case, when reminded that the accused's wife is eight months pregnant, said, "He didn’t take his personal situation into account when he went to the site, and so I also don't have to take this into account." Ovadiah was arrested about 100 meters away from the site of the violence - and was treated violently himself by the police.
One youth who was arrested slightly before Ben-Natan told Arutz-7 today, "I was taken to Kisufim first, and then Ovadiah was brought in. I don't remember if it was a policeman or a soldier who brought him in. He was handcuffed, not like the others. There weren't enough chairs, so he was sitting on the floor, and one of the policemen, whose name I know, said that he should get up. Because of the handcuffs, however, it was hard for him to get up; the policeman saw this and jerked him up very strongly by the handcuffs until he was actually in a standing position. It was very painful and violent."
The youth further said, "The policemen there insulted and cursed us, and in some cases used physical violence. Because they knew that this was illegal, they put on vests so that we couldn't see their ID tags. We asked them to identify themselves, but they refused - also against the law. They forced us to be photographed, which is also against the law."
Asked during yesterday's special Knesset committee session about police violence and brutality, Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi said that the Police Investigation Bureau looks into all reported instances of police brutality, and that the Police Department acts in accordance with its findings.
MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union), speaking in the Knesset yesterday during the time allotted for one-minute speeches, noted the video - first reported on Arutz-7 - of special unit policemen brutalizing a youth at last Wednesday's road-blockings. "We must stop this now," Eldad said, "before it leads to bloodshed."
Two prominent detainees, Ariel Vangrover and Shai Malka - the heads of the Bayit Leumi (National Home) organization that ran the massive road-blocking campaign of several weeks ago - have been moved out of the Maasiyahu Prison to the Nitzan Prison. The significance of this move is that they will no longer be with the other "disengagement prisoners," but will rather be held with common criminals.
In an extreme incident in Be'er Sheva yesterday, the police forgot to bring the defendant to the trial. Hanoch Albert, who has been held in Nitzan Prison in Ramle for two months on charges of attacking a policeman during a rally, was to have had a hearing on his extended custody today. His family and lawyers, the prosecutor and the judge all waited in vain for the defendant to be brought to the courtroom - but in vain. The judge reprimanded the police for their mess-up, and said that she would demand explanations from the police.
Albert's lawyers demand that he be released immediately, and that his remand until the end of proceedings be canceled. The plea will be heard tomorrow afternoon - if the police remember to bring the defendant.
One detainee who was released yesterday after six days in prison in Be'er Sheva, said, "For the first time, I saw people [in the public 'system'] who truly want to do bad. It was scary."
His brother - another detainee still being held in Jerusalem's Russian Compound prison - had a different experience. "All in all, it's fun here," he said. "We learn Torah sometimes, and joke around, and the guards are not so bad." He said he and his friends do not want to "give in" and be released under the restrictions the judge gave them.