Court upholds decision to try Tamimi teen behind closed doors

A petition to allow the trial of 17-year-old Palestinian Ahed Tamimi be open to the public is denied by the Military Court of Appeals.

Tamimi was arrested four months ago after she was filmed slapping and shoving IDF soldiers in her West Bank village of Nebi Saleh.

Explaining his decision, Judge Gilad Peretz writes that he did not feel that he had the authority to overrule the court’s original decision on February 13 to hold the proceedings behind closed doors.

Furthermore, he adds, the original decision to hold the trial behind closed doors was legitimate because “it is in the best interest of the minor.”

Speaking with The Times of Israel, Tamimi’s attorney Gaby Lasky scoffs at the ruling, pointing out that in his original ruling, Ofer Military Court Judge Menachem Lieberman granted Lasky the right to appeal the decision.

“And even if he hadn’t, it shouldn’t have taken the appeals court over a month to realize that it didn’t feel comfortable making a decision,” she says.

— Jacob Magid