Ofer - Assault of soldier/policeman, Interrogation of Witness

Translation: Marganit W.

“I recently discovered certain facts regarding the bodily search done on the detainee while she was in custody.”

Atty. Fadi Qawasmeh’s words during the hearing of Arij Hushiya.

Arij Hushiya has been in detention since Dec. 2017, charged with threatening a female soldier with a hairpin.

See earlier report detailing how she took her younger sister who has Down Syndrome to hospital in Jerusalem. The girl panicked when she saw the soldiers and ran away. Arij followed her, then went back to the checkpoint and that’s when the incident happened.

The soldiers testified in earlier hearings.

Today, the attorney pointed out the harassment that took place during the interrogation. He added that Arij was too embarrassed to tell him, but eventually spoke to a female lawyer from Adameer, who later lodged a complaint to the military prosecution office. 

Atty. Qawasmeh maintained that what happened during the interrogation caused his client to say certain incriminating things which were included in the police statement. Thus, the attorney requested re-summoning the witnesses, who had already testified and who were present when the bodily search took place.

The prosecutor said she was aware of the complaint but objected to summoning the witnesses anew.

Judge Lieut.-Col. Sebastian Osovsky agreed to postpone the defense hearing and ordered the prosecution witnesses back to the witness stand to testify about the circumstances of the search.

He stressed that the charge against the defendant is a serious one – premeditated murder attempt and attack on a soldier. The prosecution bases its case on the defendant’s police statement.

Let me reiterate: the attempted murder involved a hairpin taken out of the defendant’s hair!

The next hearing is set for 8.8.18 at 13:00.