Dozens of Haredim block traffic in south Jerusalem over arrest of rioting suspect

Dozens of Haredi protesters are blocking traffic near a checkpoint in southern Jerusalem over the arrest of another suspect in riots outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg.

Police say that officers are trying to clear protesters from the road.

Demonstrators began disrupting traffic this morning shortly after police nabbed a 26-year-old from Beit Shemesh as he was driving in the West Bank near Beitar Illit. He will be brought to court for an extension on his remand, police say.

The suspect tried to lock himself in his car after police stopped him on the road, but officers broke into the vehicle and apprehended him, police say.

The young man is suspected of rioting outside Sohlberg’s home Wednesday in the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut. The mob smashed windows and vandalized the outside of the judge’s home.

Police arrested a total of 65 suspects at the scene of the riots, 62 of whom were brought to the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court for an extension of their remand.

Eighteen of the suspects were transferred to house arrest Thursday evening on the order of a Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court judge, but police successfully appealed the decision Friday, and the 18 suspects were held in custody over the weekend. Five minors detained Wednesday night were set to go free Friday, but their status is unclear.

According to a lawyer for some of the detainees, a total of 58 suspects were still in custody as of Sunday morning.

On Friday night, ultra-Orthodox extremists protesting the suspects’ continued detention tried to break into a Jerusalem police station. Similar riots broke out in Beit Shemesh, where rioters threw stones at officers.

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