العربية
HE
العربية
HE
On 1 May 2008, HaMoked submitted a “habeas corpus” petition in the case of a young Palestinian man arrested in Qalqilya with two of his friends. On the day he was arrested, a person who identified himself as a member of the Israeli security services (“Muhabarat”) telephoned the Petitioner’s home and spoke to his brother. When the brother asked where the Petitioner was being held, the slammed the phone and did not provide the information. HaMoked contacted the military and the Israel Prison Service (IPS) in order to locate the young man, but his name did not appear on the lists of detainees held in the prison facilities. HaMoked was left with no choice but to submit a court petition.
Even after the petition was submitted, the military and the IPS found it difficult to locate the Petitioner. He was eventually located on the basis of the detention details of the other young men arrested in the same incident. It also emerged that during his arrest the young man had given a false name, and this had been recorded in by the holding facility in which he was held. Indeed, even the indictment served against the Petitioner used the false name he gave during his arrest.
The IPS asked that the petition be deleted, and argued that the Petitioner himself (and not the additional Petitioner, HaMoked) should bear the expenses. The authorities argued that through his alleged act of impersonation, the Petitioner caused the disorder that formed the background to the petition and led the IPS to incur unnecessary expenses. In response, HaMoked emphasized that the petition was not submitted with the approval of the Petitioner; this is, after all, the essence of the “habeas corpus” procedure; had the Petitioner been asked for his opinion, he would surely have opposed the submission of the petition on his behalf for the purpose of locating him.
HaMoked further argued that the petition revealed outrageous behavior on the part of the IPS and the State Prosecutor’s Office. It is absurd that a person can be arrested and held under a false name without the matter even being examined. Worse still, criminal proceedings were pursued against the Petitioner – indictment and prosecution – under the name of another person. The court accepted HaMoked’s arguments and agreed to delete the petition without awarding costs.
To view the petition dated 11 May 2008 (Hebrew)
To view the Respondents’ response dated 20 May 2008 (Hebrew)
To view HaMoked’s response to the Respondents’ response dated 20 May 2008 (Hebrew)
