In a rare ruling on Sunday the court decided that Sela would be limited to no more than eight court motions a year due to the heavy burden the motions put on the wheels of justice. The court also ruled that Sela would pay a fee for each motion rejected by the courts.
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Sela is known as a "serial appellant" due to the fact that he files dozens of motions on an annual basis. Most of the motions focus on inconsequential issues and are rejected.
Sela is supposed to pay a fee of NIS 70 for every motion he files but because of his status as a dependent inmate, he receives a fee exemption. The Prison Service and prosecution must respond to each motion and the hearings are all held before a District Court judge in its role as an administrative court.
In Court...again – Benny Sela (Photo: Dana Kopel)
The Prison Service is tasked with bringing Sela to each hearing and returning him to the prison, a process that necessitates additional police forces and massive security as Sela is considered an escape risk.
This is in addition to the simple fact that the Prison Services' patience with Sela and his ever-failing motions has come to an end. It would seem the Beersheba District Court Judge Shlomo Friedlander is of the same mind.
Judge Friedlander has chosen to take the stance of "defensive democracy" and deny him of his right to fee exemption in order to prevent Sela from misusing the judicial process.
"All in order to prevent him from forcing the Prison Service and legal system to allocate him an unequal share of the resources set aside for prisoner motions which would have denied other prisoners from their due relevant rights."
The judge ruled that Sela's motions would not be addressed if the court fee was not paid and furthermore that Sela would be limited to eight motions per year. Only if the motion is found to be justified will it not be counted in his eight allotted motions.
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