Ameer Makhoul's defense team requests that the Haifa District Court stop all judicial proceedings against him until they are allowed a private and confidential meeting with him
Makhoul's defense team submitted a motion to the court on 11 July 2010, requesting that they be allowed to meet with their client confidentially, as required by law. His attorneys also demanded that the court stop all judicial proceedings against Makhoul until the authorities respond their requests. The lawyers have already made this request to the prison authorities, but no action was taken in response.
On 1 July 2010, the legal defense team representing Ameer Makhoul, the director of "Ittijah", a network of Arab NGOs in Israel, and a human rights defender, submitted a complaint to Attorney General (AG) Yehuda Weinstein to order a prompt criminal investigation into the use of a wiretap to listen into the discussions they had with him in prison following his indictment. In the letter, Adalah Attorneys Hassan Jabareen and Orna Kohn, and Attorney Hussein Abu Hussein argued that Mr. Makhoul's constitutional right to consult with his lawyers privately and confidentially has been severely violated. They emphasized that since he was charged in court on 27 May 2010, he had not been allowed to meet his lawyers in conditions of confidentiality, as required by law.
During this period, his lawyers visited Mr. Makhoul seven times in the detention facilities in which he was held – the Gilboa Prison and Kishon detention center. In these meetings, communication between the lawyers and Mr. Makhoul was allowed only via telephone, separated by a glass screen, or with prison guards standing next to the lawyers and Mr. Makhoul, listening to the conversation. The guards refused to permit the lawyers to meet Mr. Makhoul in one of the rooms allocated for meetings between lawyers and detainees, claiming that they were only for the use of criminal detainees and not detainees charged with security offenses. Instead the guards insisted that the meetings take place in rooms set aside for family visits. Mr. Makhoul's lawyers were not informed that their discussions with him over the telephone were being recorded. They only learned of the recording from a sign in one of the rooms, which stated that all conversations were recorded.
In the letter to the AG, the lawyers argued that every detainee is entitled to the right to legal counsel, not least, detainees facing criminal indictment. This right requires that meetings be held in appropriate conditions that enable direct communication between them. This means that they should not be separated, their conversations should not be recorded or listened in on, and it should be possible for lawyers to exchange documents relevant to the legal proceedings with their client.
The lawyers argued that under the conditions in which their meetings with Mr. Makhoul took place, there was no possibility for them to discuss the investigation materials and evidence, that they did not have a chance to explain their legal strategy to Mr. Makhoul, and could not discuss issues related to the defense preparation with him, which by nature should be confidential. These conditions violate provision 45 of the Prisons Ordinance, which states that, “A prisoner is entitled to meet his lawyer in order to receive professional service. A prisoner will meet his lawyer privately, and under conditions that secure the confidentiality of discussions and documents that will be exchanged in the meeting, but in a way that enables supervision of the prisoner's movements.” The lawyers also argued that the conditions were in breach of the Israel Bar Association Law and to the Evidence Ordinance regarding the confidentiality rules applied to lawyer-client consultations, and that wiretapping of such conversations is a criminal offence under paragraph 2 of the Israeli Wiretapping Law.
During the last session, which was held on 13.07.2010, the court set the following dates to continue deliberations: 16 July 2010, 19 July 2010, 5 October 2010, 21 October 2010, and 28 October 2010.
