Israel: National Security Minister to introduce sweeping bill to detain suspects indefinitely without charge and severely restrict their freedoms
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Israel’s controversial National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir is set to introduce a Knesset bill that would grant him sweeping powers to control the country’s police force and to indefinitely imprison suspects who have not been charged with any crime, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports.
The leader of far-right party Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), which ascribes to anti-Arabism, Ben Gvir has been widely accused of inciting racism and unrest and has faced criminal charges for hate speech against Arabs.
Ben Gvir’s bill would allow him to detain suspects for renewable periods of up to six months and restrict suspects’ movements, communications, and access to employment or international travel without filing any charges of evidence, TOI reports.
In addition to expanding the minister’s power to impose administrative detention, the bill would grant power to him alone to determine where a suspect can live or visit, limit who they can speak to, ban them from using the internet, and restrict what they can buy, TOI reports.
Ben Gvir has arranged for the proposed legislation to be introduced by Otzma Yehudit lawmaker Zvika Fogel, the chairman of the Knesset’s National Security Committee, as a private member’s bill, TOI reports. In this way, the minister can effectively circumvent objections to the bill raised by the government’s legal advisers, particularly Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.
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