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Attorney General Menachem Mazuz
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05/31
Ynetnews |
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05/31
Haaretz |
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| By israelinsider staff and partners May 31, 2005 |
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Attorney General Menachem Mazuz on Tuesday blasted the leaders of the opposition to the disengagement, accusing them of crossing red lines in their public struggle to foil the Gaza pullout.
In the past, he recommended a maximum of 20 years' for protestors who block public thoroughfares and disturb the peace.
"Unfortunately, those leading the struggle have crossed red lines many times. In meetings with the Council of Jewish Settlements of Judea, Samaria and Gaza District (the Yesha Council), we have made it clear that we will ferociously defend their right to a public struggle and protest so long as they do not cross any red lines.
"This is not easy -- a struggle that is ideologically motivated causes all parties involved to become more radical. This forces us to monitor the process on a daily basis," he said.
He nevertheless plans to take a relatively lenient stance with regard to anti-disengagement protesters.
Speaking at a conference of the Israel Bar Association in Eilat, Mazuz said that the top echelons of the Justice Ministry are monitoring daily the public struggle against the disengagement, in order to determine to what extent should criminal law be enforced against protesters.
"We should move away from a narrow legal approach that seeks to determine whether a crime was committed or not, and approach the events with wise enforcement of criminal law... [we must ask ourselves:] do we fan or calm the flames by enforcing criminal law," Mazuz said.
The attorney general stated that a careful and restrained approach to the enforcement of criminal law in relation to the disengagement plan is not the easy solution, because power lies with restraint, since restricting the freedom of expression would in many instances yield the least desired results.
Mazuz commended the courts for their severe actions in the hundreds of court sessions to try protesters who blocked roads some two weeks ago.
"The judicial system is probably partly responsible for the harsh approach to handling such occurrences... The courts have demonstrated a harsh approach and approved most of our requests for arrests, including arrests until the end of procedures," said Mazuz.
But, he said, Israeli society is strong enough to withstand such challenges without striking a blow to freedom of speech.
"The more a society learns to give its angry and alienated segments freedom to object, the greater the chance we've to lower their motivation to voice their feelings in stronger ways," he told the convention of lawyers.
Mazuz added that the guarded use of criminal indictments was not a sign of weakness on the part of Israeli society or law enforcement officials, and said that although criminal indictments might be the "easy way" to deal with protesters, they are "inappropriate in most cases."
"Again and again, law enforcement agencies must direct police regarding red lines. We have to decide which protest signs are legal (despite being offensive), and which cross those lines. We must be very careful when pressing charges.
"In a political-social struggle, the judicial system must take extra care not to get dragged into a political fight," he said.
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