Holding people in prison without a trial is a tool that has only been used on those considered potential terrorists, whether Arab or Jewish; critics slam idea.
By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
The Israeli police are demanding to be allowed to use the extreme tool of administrative detention in their fight against a growing crime wave in the Arab sector, Kan News reported Sunday in an exclusive story.
The idea is to implement such detention only in “exceptional” cases where there was a threat to life, with each case requiring the approval of the attorney general. Representatives of the police, the Ministry of Justice, and the Attorney General have discussed the plan, which the report says is still in its early stages.
Until now, holding people in prison without a trial is a tool that has only been used on those considered potential terrorists, whether Arab or Jewish. It is a controversial tool, as it denies suspects their basic rights to go to court to be proven guilty, and the evidence against them is presented to a judge without defense lawyers being able to argue against its validity. People can be held for months or even years at a time in this fashion, as long as a judge periodically reviews the case and approves the extension of the decree.
Senior police officials quoted in Maariv Sunday defended the proposal, saying that using administrative arrests could have prevented murders in the Arab society.