Police brutality documented, detainee released

Wednesday, March 1, 2017, 16:44 Honenu: “Once again we see the importance of documenting police brutality.”
The police demanded that the Petah Tikva Magistrate Court distance a detained youth from Yehuda and Shomron for two months. Documentation of the police brutality led Judge Oded Moreno to unconditionally release the youth. (Video credit: Yehonatan Blank)
The youth was detained on Tuesday, February 28, at a demonstration held at the Yitzhar Junction in protest of the destruction of houses in Ofra. Honenu Attorney Chai Haber, who represented the youth, presented to the court documentation in which Yassam (Special Forces) Police are seen treating the youth violently.
The police claimed that the youth blocked a road and assaulted policemen, and therefore demanded that the court order him distanced from Yehuda and Shomron for two months and obligated to post 1,000 NIS to ensure that he comply with the restrictive conditions. Judge Moreno ruled that in light of the police report, there is a reasonable suspicion that the youth will commit violations, but ruled that “weight must be given” also to the video clip in which one of the policemen violently shoved the youth into the police car for no visible reason.
Judge Moreno ruled that there is no cause for distancing the youth from Yehuda and Shomron, which would distance him from his place of learning, and ordered that he be released on condition of only bail.
Honenu: “The incident illustrates the importance of documenting police brutality. We encounter again and again incidents in which documentation reveals the truth and proves that the civilians did not violate the law, but the policemen did.”
Honenu Attorney Chai Haber: “It is sad to see that particularly with sensitive topics, when normative citizens without a criminal record attempt to express their quiet opposition to the evacuation of Jews, the police conduct themselves with such insensitivity, and the policemen act violently. As is customary with incidents of this sort, in the end the demonstrator was detained and the crime of assaulting a policeman was attributed to him. Fortunately for the suspect the conduct of the police was documented and an appropriate complaint will be transferred to the Police Investigation Unit.”