Soldiers suspected of beating terrorists detained

Wednesday, October 28, 2015, 11:47 Seven soldiers from the Nahal Hareidi Netzah Yehuda Regiment have been detained, some of them for more than a week, on suspicion of beating Arab terrorists. The seven soldiers are suspected of beating two or three terrorists in several incidents.
Three soldiers in particular are accused of involvement with the main incident. On Tuesday, October 27 one of the soldiers was released from remand to his base, to which he is confined. The Military Advocate General is expected to issue an indictment on Thursday, October 29.
According to testimony which three of the soldiers gave in a military interrogation into the main incident, a released terrorist who was detained in an operation in the area of Jenin was brought by them to the toilet. When he refused to continue walking they applied reasonable force to him. The Military Police Criminal Investigation Division (MPCID) attributes to them also bruises to the terrorist’s face, despite the fact that there is no disagreement that prior to the incident the detained terrorist had hit his own head against a wall and the floor several times.
The soldiers claim that they were told that the incident would be handled within their unit, however despite the assurance their commanders transferred a complaint to the military police, who started a wave of detentions.
Officials in the MPCID chose to believe the testimony of the terrorist who claimed that he hit his head against the wall because he wanted the soldiers to stop beating him. Soldiers present during the incident but not involved with it, on whose testimony the incrimination of the detained soldiers relies, testified that the terrorist hit his head against the wall and the floor without cause before he was brought to the toilet.
Four other soldiers were detained over the past few days following the detention of the first three and they are suspected of beating terrorists in other incidents. One of them has been released from remand to his base, to which he is confined.
Honenu attorneys Aharon Roza, Chai Haber, and Avi Pinarski are representing five of the soldiers. On Thursday, October 29 the Military Advocate General is expected to issue an indictment to all seven of the detained soldiers and to request an extension of their remand until the end of proceedings.
Honenu attorney Chai Haber, who is representing two of the soldiers, stated that, “This investigation began after a terrorist detained by the security forces decided to falsely accuse several soldiers of beating him when he was detained. According to what has been said so far it is clear that the terrorist at the time of the detention caused the bruises to himself. Many soldiers, not the suspects, have testified to that effect. It is a shame that the military authorities chose particularly at this time, when the security forces in general, and IDF soldiers in specific, are working day and night in order to return a sense of security to citizens. Instead of being granted freedom to operate and the minimum backing necessary, the soldiers found themselves detained and forced to cope with the baseless claims of a terrorist.”
Honenu attorney Avi Pinarski, who is representing one of the soldiers, stated that, “The suspect denies all charges. At the next deliberation we will demand his release from remand.”