Ofer - Shooting, Holding and trading of combat materiel

Translation: Marganit W.

Courtroom 4

Justice: Sigal Turjeman

Defense: Akram Samara

There were only remand extensions here and Atty. Samara represented all the detainees.

Muhammad Ahmad Mustafa Ziyad – ID 854396116

A 22 year old resident of Ramallah, student of business administration.

Suspicion: membership and activity in an unlawful organization (probably a student organization).

The negotiation with the prosecution has not been completed, so the hearing was postponed to a later date.

Judging by their names, the next three detainees are brothers, and according to a relative I spoke to, they live near Beit Horon.

Muhammad Hamis Hader Suleiman – ID 853614329

A 29-year old bakery worker suspected of manufacturing and throwing a firebomb.

The defense has not yet reached a plea bargain with the prosecution.

Hader Muhammad Hader Suleiman – ID 863618130

A 20-year old construction worker suspected of manufacturing and throwing a fire bomb.

Ahmad Muhammad Hader Suleiman – 86003961

A 19-year old seasonal laborer from Ramallah, also accused of manufacturing and throwing a firebomb.

The three deny the allegations and there is no negotiation for a plea bargain.

Their hearings were postpones to 20.10.14.

Fadi Hamis Ibrahim Haridi – ID 401649579

Suspected of shooting someone.

His mother and brothers were present in court.

Haridi denies the allegations.

The judge said: If there is no plea bargain, the prosecution will use the minutes of the hearing to prove its arguments without summoning the investigators to testify. The suspect agreed.

The hearing will take place on 16.9.14

Malek Rabah Mahmoud Nahla – ID 854554292

Suspected of manufacturing and throwing a firebomb. He denies the allegations.

The defense has not yet spoken to the prosecution. He, too, is told by the judge that if there is no agreement, she would use the police report, as well as Fadi Darawshe (presumably an incriminator). The detainee agreed and the hearing was set for 2.10.14.

Nasser Aladin Jamal Ahmad Sharaha – ID 854551512

Suspected of manufacturing and throwing a firebomb.

His mother and sister were in court but the latter did not want to talk to me.

Halil Abed Al-Razak Halil Farijat – ID 853609410

Also suspected of manufacturing and throwing a firebomb.

He is a 22-year old Hebron resident, arrested on 17.3.14

According to his mother he has health issues: half a year ago he was beaten on his way home. After a long convalescence he enrolled in Hebron Polytechnic, but he was arrested before he began his studies.

Courtroom 3 – Court of Appeals

Justice: Lieut.-Col. Zvi Lekah

Prosecutor: Gilad Peretz

Defense: Fadi Qawasme

Mousaeb Fahri Yusuf Brari – ID 851562181

The prosecution requests detention until the conclusion of the proceedings.

Brari is accused of membership and activities in an unlawful organization, Hamas. He gave a Hamas operative a memory card for a cellphone, helped him contact local Hamas cells in the area and introduced him to another activists at Beir-Zeit University; he was present at that meeting.

In an earlier hearing the defense argued that the detainee committed no crime; at most he tried to make the best of a bad situation. The implication is that any contact between Palestinians from the same village, university or family can be construed as “activity” or aiding and abetting an unlawful organization.

The name of Salah Arouri came up: he is a Hamas activist residing in Turkey. The prosecution claims that he operates Hamas cells in the Occupied Territories from Turkey. The prosecutor argued that even if the detainee refused to make contact with Hamas, this does not exempt him. This is a case of willful blindness, not trying to wiggle out of a bad situation. He aided and abetted Hamas, endangered security and committed the crime of providing services. In 2005 he was convicted of attending a rally, which proves that his connection to Hamas is not new.

The defense said that Brari had been in detention for seven months; prior to this he was under administrative detention and interrogated by the GSS in connection with other prosecution witnesses (not mentioned in this hearing). Because of his connection to those people he was in administrative detention.

In 2010 Riyad Nasser (now Prosecution Witness no 2) contacted him and suggested they carry out Saleh Arouri’s orders. They were asked to give someone a memory card and a cell phone number. In the end the order was not carried out because the detainee refused to cooperate. For three years nothing happened, then Riyad Nasser approached him again, asking that he serve as liaison between the cells. Brari declined, and even Nasser did not contradict this claim. He introduced Nasser to Mahmoud Abu Daoud (Prosecution Witness No. 3). He knew what he was doing and that might be construed as “offering services”, but not “membership”.

The prosecutor countered that the detainee knew exactly what he was asked to do. Most important is the sequence of events and the prior record (i.e. attending a rally 9 years ago). All this is cause for further detention.

The judge summed up: the question is whether what he did and what he did not do constitute cause for detention.

Judge: Colonel Eli Wolf

Prosecutor: Captain Asher Silver

Defense: Fadi Qawasme

Abed Al-Karim Sa’adi Ahmad Qawasme – ID 921511853

The prosecution appeals an earlier decision to release the detainee on bail.

There is lack of clarity here. The judge asked several times to detail what happened, what year, what penalty was given and when. The replies of both prosecution and defense did not dispel the fog. The protocol reflects this confusion and contradictions. Here is what we gathered from the hearing and from the protocol:

The prosecutor reminded the court that in 2008 Qawasme was accused of providing shelter to a fugitive. A guy asked him to hide him in his house and he refused, sending him instead to an abandoned house. He got a suspended sentence for 24 months. (Justice Yoram Haniel commented in an earlier hearing: “I know the circumstances, and the chance that you’d chuck your friend out are minimal”.)

What he is accused of today (on top of sending a fugitive to an abandoned house three years ago) is that he kept a Kalashnikov rifle and a barrelful of ammo for a month, then gave it to the fellow whom he had helped in 2008. He also received money from the operative to whom he gave the Kalashnikov.

The prosecutor said: when we have someone who in 2008 helped criminals, then served time for security violations and when released joined a terror organization, from our perspective this not only proves his affiliation, but that the man is dangerous and willing to commit more crimes for those who pay him.

Let me point out that he was released five months ago and the money was probably given to him for personal use.

The hearing was postponed and decision will be given next time.