Salem Military Court, Thursday, 15.6.06 AM/PMObservers and reporters: Mara, Shula08:30 – 12:30We arrived early at the request of the Jerusalem members, to follow the attempt to extend the remand in custody of Ibrahim Abu Dalau, a student accused of membership in a student organisation at the American University near Jenin. On the previous occasion, the judge in Jerusalem ruled that he would not again extend the remand if the investigation was not completed by the date of expiry of the current remand (today). Today, wondrously, they had arranged a fast transfer from the court in Jerusalem to Salem (north of Jenin), perhaps in the hope that in the north the remand would be extended. Upon our arrival in Salem, we could not find him. At noon it became clear, according to his lawyer Mahmoud Hassan, that “they forgot” to send him to Salem and he would be tried in Jerusalem after all. Hassan asked a lawyer colleague to replace him in case he did not manage to reach the Jerusalem court. When he did get there, he found that they had sent Ibrahim to Salem after all, and as these lines are written the lawyer is driving back to Salem to prevent the extension of remand into more imprisonment (in which he finally succeeded).In the courtroom itself, before the opening of proceedings (which started at 09:30), we asked why the signs on the wall (No Smoking! No Cellular Phones! Preserve the Silence!) are written only in Hebrew? Why not Arabic too? The prosecutor, who was present, hastened to promise us that “the matter will really be dealt with.” Okay. Let’s assume… One of the military police, who had never thought about the matter, even declared importantly that “they don’t need any signs; we tell them (the families of the prisoners) where to sit, and we tell them to be quiet.” And indeed, the silencing of the prisoners’ families was the main occupation of a military policewoman with a violent appearance. She sat waiting for the opportunity to whip them with an angry “ssshhhhh, for example when a weeping mother mumbled shalom to her manacled son, sitting (obviously) on the other, distant, side of the courtroom – the son she certainly had not seen for a long time. The policewoman simply went mad at such an impertinence.All the while we were there, there was intolerable uproar in the hall – uproar of a kind impossible in any other legal arena: soldiers and lawyers came in and out endlessly, slamming doors with squeaky hinges, everyone was talking, interrupting the judge’s words, the translator, the defence attorneys. The lawyers ran around from here to there, the manacles on the prisoners’ ankles rattled, and over all the “ssshhhh” of the military policewoman.So we had difficulty in hearing who said what, in deciphering the names of the prisoners…The translator did only partial work, and was not concentrating.The court stenographer sat doing nothing; she did not record any of the arguments of the defence. The judge did that in his own handwriting.The prisoners were surrounded and hidden by Border Policemen, to the disappointment of the families.The judges were Lieutenant Colonel Erez Hasson, and he was replaced after an hour by Major Amit.While we were there the discussions dealt with extension of remand in custody for the first or second time, like a conveyor belt. Occasionally a group of prisoners were brought in or taken out, and in parallel their families were herded in or back out. We were shocked by the attitude of military justice to prisoners and suspects. People are arrested and imprisoned for long periods, even for years, and the investigations are not completed. There is no attempt at justice.The military courts are another choking arm of the occupation monster!color = red>Here are four hearings of the ten for which we were present.1. Issa Mahmoud Issa, accused of entering Israel illegally, and presenting forged permits. The defence attorney, Aadi, asked for consideration of the young man’s clean record, his many children and aged parents. The judge accepted the deal made between prosecution and defence: three months imprisonment plus one day, 2,000 shekels fine or two months imprisonment in their stead, and a month’s conditional imprisonment for three years.2. Nasser Hanoun, caught in March 2005 when throwing a Molotov cocktail, and in prison ever since – over a year. Attorney Mahmoud Hassan argued that the identification parade (based on photos) was not lawful, the accused does not know the accuser and denies the accusation. Additionally, his name as written in his file is not exact and possibly the incident concerns someone else. The judge argued that his name is not so common, and even if written wrongly can be assumed to be his; at issue was an object thrown from short range and the accuser is a sufficiently reliable eyewitness, and there is no need for the accused to know him in order for the accusation to be acceptable. Right of appeal was granted, the appeal to take place on 28.6.06.3. Muhammad Abiyah… (?), caught while buying a fake ID from a forger of identity cards, for the sum of 1,500 shekels.Judge Amit: why did you use this identity card?Muhammad: I tried to enter…Judge: …Israel!Muhammad: Jubara is not Israel.Judge (turning to prosecutor): good, nu, have you made a deal on this? I don’t have to accept it.Prosecutor: presents faked ID and a previous charge sheet, in which the accused confesses (caught five years ago as an illegal, carrying a weapon, in Netania).Judge: I accept the deal, three months + 1 day imprisonment, fine of 1,000 shekels or one month imprisonment, one month conditional for three years.4. Hassan Abu Lahis, has sat in administrative detention for more than four years, suspected of placing an explosive charge. Advocate Halabi argued heatedly that this is an old charge, already covered by the Statute of Limitations… because his client was mistakenly identified, and because the charge sheet has a lost of inconsistencies, particularly because the prosecurtion arguments relate to someone else. He asked the prosecution to prove that the accused is in fact the accused, and he demanded of the judge unconditional release. In passing he revealed that the accused is married to two wives, and the men present dutifully smiled in understanding of his suffering.At this point the police came in and asked Judge Amit to move immediately to the extension of remand of their suspects, and the judge – though angry at the interruption – bowed to their wish and abandoned Hassan, and the time was drawn out and we had to leave before hearing his fate.We will try to get the details.