Comparative graph
Statistics
Developments
Fact sheet
Newsletter
About us
Contact
Donate
 
Bookmark and Share
  change font size تصغير الخط تكبير الخط print
Home » Children »

Testimony: S.M.S.A.

 

Name: S.M.S.A.
Age: 14
Date: 3 August 2017
Location: Tuqu', West Bank
Accusation: Throwing Molotov cocktails

On 3 August 2017, a 14-year-old minor from Tuqu' was arrested by Israeli soldiers from home at 2:00 a.m. and accused of intending to stab a soldier and throwing Molotov cocktails. He reports ill treatment. He reports consulting with a lawyer prior to being interrogated. He reports being released without charge 4 days after he was arrested. 

I was still awake at around 2:00 a.m. when I heard banging at our front door. My father answered and a group of Israeli soldiers entered our home and asked for me. I identified myself and the soldiers told me to get ready because I was under arrest. They gave my father a document with details about my arrest and told him they were going to take me to Etzion police station for questioning but they did not say for what.
 
After I got ready the soldiers took me outside and blindfolded me. They also handcuffed my hands to the front with metal handcuffs which were not painful. The soldiers wanted me to walk but I told them I was in pain because my leg hurt so they brought a jeep and put me in the back where I sat on a seat.
 
The jeep drove towards the entrance of the village where they made me sit on the ground and a doctor examined me. The doctor removed the blindfold for the examination before replacing it. I sat on the ground near the military watchtower until around 8:00 a.m.
 
At around 8:00 a.m. I was put back in the jeep which drove for about 15 minutes to the police station in Etzion settlement. On arrival at the settlement I was immediately taken for interrogation.
 
The interrogator removed the blindfold and called a lawyer and allowed me to speak to him. The lawyer told me not to confess and not to sign any documents. I don’t remember anything about the right to silence.
 
The interrogator asked me whether I had planned to stab soldiers or run them over. I told him I had no idea what he was talking about. Then he told me he had information I had threatened to commit such acts following some row with my family. I denied the accusation and told him I had an argument with my brother and arguments do happen among siblings. I also told him I had no intension of doing anything against soldiers.
 
Then he lost his temper, pulled out his gun and cocked it and aimed it at me as if he was going to shoot me. Then he put the gun away. Then he accused me of throwing a Molotov cocktail at soldiers. I denied the accusation. The interrogator then told me I was  a "son of a whore" and hit me on the head.
 
At the end of the interrogation he printed out my statement in Hebrew and asked me to sign and I did although I did not understand what was written in it. Then they took my photograph and fingerprints, blindfolded me again and took me to a troop carrier which drove to Ofer prison, near Jerusalem.
 
At Ofer I was strip-searched. The soldier who searched me asked me to crouch up and down while naked. Then I was taken to the military court. My parents did not attend the hearing but a lawyer was there and the hearing was adjourned. I did not attend anymore hearings and I was released without charge on 6 August 2017.