Leef under arrest
Photo: Yaron Brener
Protest leader Leef indicted for disrupting order
Daphni Leef to be indicted for protesting illegally, hindering police officer in line of duty. Leef: I was dragged and injured in hand, ribs
An indictment has been filed with the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court against social protest
leader Daphni Leef,
in the aftermath of a protest in which she was arrested.
Leef is being accused of disrupting the order, hindering a police man in the line of duty as well as using force and threats to resist an arrest.
Watch: Police arrest Leef (צילום: ניצן דרור)
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According to the indictment, a protest held on June 22, 2012 which was indented to reignite the tent protest of the summer of 2011, failed to receive proper authorization from the police and the Tel Aviv Municipality.
The indictment further claims that when police forces and municipal wardens arrived at the scene in Rothschild Boulevard, protesters pelted them with bottles and trash, splashed them with water and threw punches at the forces.
The indictment stated that the protesters disrupted the public order "in a manner that should inspire fear."
It additionally noted that Leef took part in the unruly behavior "leading the angry protesters and encouraging them to continue their actions against the police and municipal wardens."
Leef taken to police vehicle (Photo: Yaron Brenner)
Leef is being charged with allegedly pushing a police officer who informed her she is under arrest.
According to the indictment, upon hearing the announcement, protesters around Leef proceeded to attack the officer.
Leef allegedly took part in their attack and resisted arrest when she sat down on the floor together with other protesters who sat nearby and atop of her in an attempted to halt the arrest.
A call from the past
Leef told Ynet that she received a phone call Sunday informing her that on Monday a hearing in her matter will be held.
"I asked: For what? I couldn’t understand exactly, I just understood that it was somehow connected to the Rothschild demonstration," she said.
"It is quite strange, because all I remember from the incident is how 10 police officers violently arrested me, dragged me on the floor and wounded me in my hand and ribs; and for what? For holding a protest watch."
The incident which took place last June was Leef's attempt to return to the boulevard and rekindle the fire of 2011's summer protest wave.
However upon arrival, police and municipal wardens confiscated the tents and equipment the activists brought with them.
In the ensuing clashes Leef was dragged on the floor and taken into custody together with other activists. The remaining protesters surrounded the police van and refused to let it leave the scene.
Naama Cohen-Friedman, Eli Senyor and Boaz Fyler contributed to this report
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