U.S. Citizen Held and Interrogated by Israeli Security Forces
31 January 2001
U.S. Citizen Held and Interrogated by Israeli Security Forces
HELD SINCE DECEMBER 27 WITHOUT CHARGES: HEARING DATE CHANGED TO FEBRUARY 1
Steve Adams (Mohamad Blata), a thirty-nine-year-old American citizen from Toledo, Ohio was detained at the Gaza Airport on December 27. He is being held and interrogated by Shin Bet (the Israeli security force) at Ashkelon Prison inside Israel. No evidence has been presented against him and no charges have been entered.
He is scheduled for a hearing on Thursday, Feb. 1 at Ashkelon Prison to review his case and determine if he is going to be released or remanded for further interrogation.
Adams’ attorney Naeem Zahalki said, “it would be very helpful if an American Consular Official attended the hearing.”
Partners for peace President Jerri Bird requested that Andrew Miller head of the Consular Section, American Embassy, Tel Aviv send a US representative to attend the hearing.
The President of Partners for Peace, Jerri Bird, was told by a State Department spokesperson in the U.S. that Consular officials do not attend “hearings” when US detained citizens are brought before the military courts but wait until charges have been leveled. This means that US citizens can be interrogated for weeks and months without embassy officials lending their official presence in the military court.
Consulate officers at the US Embassy in Tel Aviv District office report that there are six Americans citizens being held for security related charges including, Steve Adams, with an additional unspecified number of US citizens being held for security related charges in the Jerusalem District the West Bank.
Three of the six US citizens have been charged and sentenced by the military courts. The other three, including Steve Adams are still being held and interrogated.
Adams is being held under British Defense (Emergency) Regulations of 1945. This regulations allow for arbitrary detention for up to six months without formal charges being brought and without adjudication before a proper court of law where due process may be guaranteed. This law is only applied to non-Israeli citizens.
