Injured Givat Gal detainees to be indicted

Thursday, June 16, 2016, 12:01 On Wednesday, June 15, the Attorney General’s office announced to Jerusalem Magistrate Court that they intend to serve the two men, detained late Monday night during the demolition of a house in the hilltop community Givat Gal near Hevron, with an indictment. The evidence in the case relies on the testimonies of border policemen.
At the deliberation Honenu Attorney Yehuda Shoshan, who represented the detainees, pleaded that his clients are innocent of the charges against them and that due to the darkness and commotion at the scene there is not much significance to the testimonies of the policemen. There is no question that the policemen violently injured several individuals at the scene, including the head of the Kiryat Arba Local Council, Malachi Levinger and the two detainees.
One of the detainees is a 37-year old married Givat Gal resident and father of four children who does not have a criminal record. He is suspected of throwing a rock which injured a tractor driver demolishing a house in the community. The resident denies all charges and asserts that the rock was thrown by someone standing behind him and that the border policemen mistakenly detained him due to the darkness and commotion at the scene.
The other detainee is a 21-year old yeshiva student suspected of shoving a border policeman and calling on people to resist the demolition. He denies all charges and states that he was severely beaten by a policeman who decided to falsely accuse him of assault. The police admitted that the student sustained many injuries, which were photographed and reported to the Police Investigation Unit.
Honenu: “There is no dispute as to the police brutality at Givat Gal which resulted in the injuries of several people, including the head of the Kiryat Arba Local Council, Malachi Levinger and both detainees. Unfortunately over the years we have encountered numerous cases of violent policemen immediately accusing their victims of assaulting a policeman, and thus innocent citizens sit in remand through no fault of their own.”
Jerusalem Magistrate Court Judge David Shaul Gabai Richter extended the remand of the two detainees until Friday, June 17 in order facilitate filing an indictment.