Amiram Ben Oliel, who has been awaiting for more than a year his trial in the Duma village arson case, which took place July 31, 2015, was placed in isolation for seven days by the Prisons Authority, according to his attorney Adi Keidar, from the Honenu legal aid society.. The reason, Keidar said, was Oliel’s refusal to stay in a cell where Shabbat is not being observed.
Since his arrest, Oliel has been spending 22 hours a day in a double-occupancy cell. He conducts a Haredi lifestyle, which is why he was disturbed by a recent decision to pair him with a non-observant cellmate. When Oliel returned from a visit a few days ago, he refused to enter his cell, where he said he was being forced to desecrate the Shabbat. His cellmate also requested to be moved to a different cell.
In response, Oliel was tried by the warden of Hasharon prison and sentenced to seven days in isolation.
Attorney Keidar sent the warden a letter demanding that his client be placed in a cell with a prisoner who does not desecrate the Shabbat, as per his rights as prisoner, especially considering the fact that he spends 22 hours a day in his cell.
Ben Oliel is in prison for the duration of the criminal investigation of his alleged culpability in the arson attack that took the lives of three members of a family in the Arab village of Duma. Oliel is expected to tell the court about his harsh treatment by GSS interrogators for close to a month, a period he spent without access to an attorney or to his family. Oliel will likely argue that the torture and isolation, approved by the AG and the high court, were the reason for his confession, which he claims was forced and untrue.
