The Be’er Sheva District Court approved the police’s request to extend the detention of activist Andrei Khrzhanovsky, who filmed himself placing a Palestinian flag sticker near a memorial honoring a fallen soldier in the […] city of Sderot.

The decision on Sunday followed a ruling by the Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court on Friday to release him under restrictive conditions, but police had requested a delay in his release.

In the appeal filed by the police, it was argued that his detention should be extended because he might “pose a risk to public safety.”

As a result, despite the earlier decision to release him, Khrzhanovsky will remain in custody longer than initially requested by the police.

District Court Judge Yaakov Danino criticized the decision of Judge Sabine Cohen from the Ashkelon court, who ruled that the police had failed to present evidence that the sticker placement posed a public safety risk, as stated in the arrest extension request.

Judge Cohen noted, “An expression of opinion is just that – an expression of opinion. It must be treated as such. This is the essence of democracy and freedom of expression.”

Khrzhanovsky was arrested on Thursday at a café in Tel Aviv after he recorded himself attaching the sticker bearing the Palestinian flag. The officers arrested him aggressively, claiming he had attacked them upon their arrival.

Footage obtained by Haaretz shows Khrzhanovsky resisting the arrest, but he asserts his resistance was due to the violence of the police.

Danino emphasized the alleged assault on the officers, stating, “Anyone who dares to raise their hand against law enforcement officers entrusted with maintaining public order and safety undermines the most basic conventions of a democratic society.”

On Sunday, the police confirmed that Khrzhanovsky’s arrest was partly due to a request from Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf. Haaretz also learned that police commissioner Danny Levy’s office exerted pressure to carry out the arrest.

Khrzhanovsky had filmed himself two weeks ago placing the sticker near the memorial for Captain Shilo Cohen, who was killed in battle in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023.

In the arrest extension request, the police stated that he was suspected of vandalizing public property and engaging in behavior that could disrupt public peace.