Urgent Petition Filed Over Leaked Footage of Detainee Agam Tzarfi
An urgent petition filed in Tel Aviv District Court seeks to halt Israel Prison Service leaks after a video of 19-year-old detainee Agam Tzarfi in handcuffs was circulated.
Following the publication of footage showing 19-year-old detainee Agam Tzarfi being led through a detention facility in handcuffs with her upper body bent toward the floor, an urgent petition was filed Thursday at the Tel Aviv District Court seeking an immediate injunction against the Israel Prison Service (IPS).
The petition also demands that the IPS disclose which official in its spokesperson's unit authorized the release of the video to the media and explain the purpose behind its distribution.
Conditions of Detention and Legal Action
The request was submitted as part of an ongoing petition filed by Tzarfi regarding her detention conditions. According to the court filing, she was placed in isolation and barred from making phone calls or receiving visitors until October 1, except for consultations with one of her defense attorneys in the primary case.
The petition claims that shortly after it was filed, a video filmed inside the detention facility was circulated. The footage shows Tzarfi being escorted by a masked Yamz (Metropolitan Guard Unit) fighter with her hands cuffed behind her back, her body bent at a 90-degree angle, and her face directed at the floor. The filing also alleges that Yamz operatives are seen raiding her cell and conducting a search in front of the cameras.
Humiliating and Unjustified Treatment
Tzarfi's legal counsel argued that the dissemination of the video constitutes a severe violation of privacy, citing the Privacy Protection Law, which prohibits publishing a person's image in circumstances that could humiliate or degrade them. Furthermore, the defense argued that the timing of the publication and the accompanying commentary undermine her right to a fair trial.
The Public Defender's Office issued a statement condemning the leak:
This is documentation of humiliating, degrading, and unjustified treatment toward a criminal detainee, and a severe violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed to every inmate in a democratic state, especially while the legal proceedings are ongoing and she is presumed innocent.
The emergency motion asks the court to convene a hearing immediately and order the IPS to identify the spokesperson responsible for leaking the footage, justify its release, and issue an injunction halting any further distribution of media from detention facilities concerning Tzarfi.
