Ofer - Interrogation of Witness, Torture
Translation: Marganit W.
Many diplomats, media representatives – we among them – came to the hearing of
Khalida Jarrar.
Their presence irked the authorities and they tried to bar some of us from attending.
Eventually everyone was admitted and we received detailed explanations.
Khalida’s husband and her daughter, Ghassan and Suha, were present, of course.
Judge: Lieut. Col. Rani Amar
Defense: Atty. Mahmoud Hassan
The indictment is based on statements and testimonies by two witnesses, No. 5 and No. 6.
Atty. Hassan raised an objection to Judge Amar’s handling of the hearing. He claimed that Witness No. 5 had been tortured during his interrogation. He was photographed by the interrogators and the court had given the defense his medical record. Thus, the court was exposed to a confidential medical record. In addition, Judge Amar presided at one of the witness’s hearings.
The judge did not see any problem with his conduct: he only presided on one hearing.
It was decided to hold a memorandum hearing to resolve this dispute.
The next hearing is set for 24.2.20
A day before the Ofer hearing, Khalida celebrated her birthday. This is the third birthday she “celebrates” in jail – the previous ones were in 2016 and 2019.
Let’s hope her next birthdays will be celebrated at home.