St. Yves annuls prison sentence of a Jerusalemite citizen

• Date: 2017-06-16

The policy of house demolitions has been one of the most protuberant measures taken by Israel since its occupation of the West Bank in 1967 and especially in Jerusalem. This policy has been based on a wide array of arguments and justifications to circumvent international law, in order to continue the policy and the subsequent displacement of Palestinians. Some of the justifications used include the lack of building permits especially for those homes in Jerusalem, and the requirements of military necessity.

In addition to demolishing houses, Israeli authorities impose multiple fines and sanctions on persons building without hold a building permit, taking into consideration that the quasi totality of permit requests are denied.

Mrs. (A.G), a Palestinian Jerusalemite was fined multiple times because she had built her house without holding a building permit, her financial situation did not enable her to pay any of these fines, the amount doubled as a penalty on the delay of her payments, after that Mrs. (A.G) was sentenced to prison as she still could not afford to pay those fines.

She approached St. Yves seeking urgent legal representation, St. Yves immediately corresponded with the court requesting them to annul the prison sentence and the penalties imposed on her as her financial situation was extremely difficult, taking into account that she is 27 years old, still a student and living with her parents that are both ill and unable to work. St. Yves lawyer gave the court all the documents proving the reality of this situation and proving that the family does not have a regular income.

The court granted St. Yves its request by annulling the prison sentence and by cancelling the penalties, the court also decided that her initial fines could be paid under multiple installments.