Police illegally questioned two Palestinian minors late at night, even though there was no lawyer or adult family member present, their lawyer told the Kfar Sava Magistrate's Court this week.

The minors, both 16-year-olds from Qalqilyah, are suspected of being accessories to the theft of three bicycles and two helmets that were found three weeks ago in the possession of two adults from Qalqilyah. These men were carrying the identity cards of the teens, which led police and military personnel to raid the minors' homes in Qalqilyah at 2 A.M. Monday.

The minors were released on Tuesday on court order after paying NIS 500 each in bail.

That sum was reduced from the NIS 2,000 the court set Monday. The two spent Monday night in jail because they could not pay the sum.

"We in the Public Defender's Office place an emphasis on the matter of minors, and we are happy about the court's decision," said Rafat Nashef, one of the teens' two lawyers. "The police decided to go into the territories, arrest the two minors and endanger soldiers purely on the basis of unfounded information and 'evidence' that does not constitute evidence."

A police spokesman said that "if mistakes were indeed made in this case," police officers would learn their lesson for the future.

Magistrate's Court Judge Michael Karshen said security forces were wrong to conduct the five-hour interrogation, which began at 4 A.M. Monday, under those circumstances.

The court found that there was a "reasonable suspicion" linking the suspects to the bicycle theft, but added that the suspicion was "relatively low."

By law, minors can be questioned only between 7 A.M. and 10 P.M. unless a delay could put lives at risk, in which case the commander of the police station or other high-ranking officer must still expressly authorize it. Even in this case, the interrogation must still end at midnight.

In this case, the youth officer at the Kfar Sava police station filled out the relevant report, though he was not authorized to grant permission to question the minors outside the normally allowed hours and there was "no reasoned decision that strikes a balance between the conflicting considerations," the court found.

Police are also required to inform the Public Defender's Office if minors are arrested and ensure they are given the opportunity to consult with a lawyer. In addition, an adult family member must be present in the interrogation, and minors must be held in a separate prison cell from adults.

All those requirements were violated in this case, Nashef and the teens' other lawyer, Lihi Gutman, told the court.

"There was a serious and fundamental flaw in the interrogation of the minors in this case, in the sense that their arrest was not brought to the attention of the Public Defender's Office," wrote Karshen. "Thus it appears that they were deprived of the fundamental right to consult with a lawyer before questioning."

Security forces refused to allow the minors' parents to accompany their children to the Kfar Sava police station, saying they did not have permits to enter Israeli territory.

That was the wrong decision, wrote Karshen.

"The police are normally obligated to wait for the parents of a suspect minor or for another relative before the minor's interrogation takes place," he wrote in his ruling.