86 chapter two client.85 In response, on May 18, the order prohibiting his meeting with a lawyer was lifted by the Petakh Tikva Magistrates’ Court and Makhoul was able to consult with his defence team.86 At this point, the defence realized that during the time they were prohibited from meeting Makhoul, his interrogators had employed “prohibited methods of interrogation in violation of the absolute prohibition on torture under international law and Israeli Supreme Court decisions.”87 The refusal of the GSS to release his medical records supported this realization. Three weeks after beginning his detention, on May 27, Makhoul was charged with “assistance to the enemy in a time of war, conspiracy to assist an enemy [and here they mainly mean Hezbollah], aggravated espionage, and contact with a foreign agent.”88 When he finally appeared in open court, Makhoul categorically denied the relevance of all charges against him. On June 14, state prosecutors announced they have ‘secret evidence’ against Makhoul, and that this evidence could not be revealed to his legal defence team due to security reasons.89 Moreover, the prosecutors 85 Adalah points out that it was not only meetings with lawyers which were denied to Makhoul: “In addition to being barred from meeting with his lawyers, he is also unable to meet his family (his wife Janan and their two daughters), and has no right to make a telephone call or send a letter. In addition there is no video or audio recording or full written record of the investigations to which he has been subjected over the last eleven days. These conditions, his almost complete isolation for the outside world and the violation of his right to due process are all conducive to torture and/or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment” (ibid.). 86 On July 1, 2010 Makhoul’s defence team announced that their discussions with Makhoul were being wiretapped. Correspondence between the defence team and Makhoul at the Gilboa Prison and Kishon detention center was permitted only either via telephone, separated by a glass screen, or with prison guards standing next to the lawyers with Makhoul, listening to the conversation. Makhoul’s lawyers were denied a separate room usually provided for meetings between lawyers and detainees, on the basis that these facilities were only for the use of ‘criminal’ detainees, and not ‘security’ detainees. Not aware that their discussions with him over the telephone were being recorded, Makhoul’s lawyers only discovered the recording from a notice in one of the rooms, stating that all conversations were recorded. See Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, “Illegal wiretap on Ameer Makhoul’s discussions with his legal defence team, lawyers demand prompt criminal investigation,” Press Release, July 1, 2010, http://www.adalah.org/ eng/pressreleases/pr.php?file=01_07_10. 87 Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, “Serious suspicion of Shabak (GSS) use of illegal methods of interrogation against human rights defender Ameer Makhoul,” Press Release, May 18, 2010, http://www.adalah.org/eng/pressreleases/pr.php ?file=18_05_10_1. 88 Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, “Ameer Makhoul and Omar Saeed vehemently deny charges against them,” Press Release, May 27, 2010, http:// www.adalah.org/eng/pressreleases/pr.php?file=27_05_10. 89 Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, “District Court sets next hearing in Ameer Makhoul’s case on 27 June 2010; State prosecutor announces ‘secret