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On Sunday, May 21, 2023 Shadi had a day-long court hearing.. It was the first of a series of trials where the prosecution was supposed to bring witnesses to testify against Shadi and prove, as they alleged, that he was part of the demonstration on October 12th, 2022. Their first witness was a 15-year-old Palestinian boy called Bara' who, as per the police, had confessed at the time of his arrest in October , that he saw Shadi participate in the demonstration. But to the surprise of the prosecution and the defense lawyers, Bara' denied any prior knowledge of Shadi, withdrew his previous confession to police, and testified that the Israeli interrogators coerced him into confessing against Shadi.
He testified that he was under psychological and physical torture and verbally abused. As he testified, the terrified 15-year-old child was threatened by imprisonment unless he confessed that Shadi took part in the demonstration and attacked an Israeli car. He was promised immediate release as a reward for snitching on Shadi falsely. During the defense lawyer's cross-examination, it became apparent that Bara' was fed specific lies about Shadi's actions by Israeli police interrogators. Bara' testified that investigators would take him from the official interrogation room with recording facilities to another room without documentation. He would be threatened, prompted, and returned to the official investigation room to falsify information and lie to the recorded sessions.
Bara's original confession was full of discrepancies, raising the suspicion of Shadi's defense lawyers. By the end of Bara's testimony, it became apparent that the reason behind these discrepancies was that the police coerced him to lie to entrap Shadi. What implication this will have on the judge's ruling is still to be seen. Another court hearing was set for October 23rd, where the prosecution is supposed to bring more evidence in their continued attempt to indict my grandson.
Shadi will remain under house arrest until then, but in the meantime he will be allowed to continue going to school, as well as to go out on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 4-9 p.m with one of those who had been approved by the court to accompany him. That is either one of his parents, siblings or his aunt.
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