Police interrogate man in shower

Wednesday, May 3, 2017, 16:07 A complaint was filed against Yassam (Special Forces) policemen and detectives from the Central Unit of the Yehuda and Shomron Police at the Yehuda and Shomron District Headquarters following a police check on a Yitzhar resident while he was nude and showering at the mikva.
Honenu Attorney Menasheh Yado, who is representing the resident, described the incident in detail in the complaint, “On Sunday (April 30) my client was showering in the Yitzhar mikva when suddenly two policemen opened the curtain, stood in front of him, and shined a flashlight at him while he was naked and powerless. They demanded his ID card and began to interrogate him. My client became very annoyed and shouted at them to leave him alone and let him shower in private,” wrote Yado.
“In light of my client’s shouting the policemen backed off, left, and waited for my client in the dressing room. When my client entered the dressing room the policemen did not allow him to get dressed, but rather, while he still had only a towel wrapped around his hips, began to interrogate him concerning his identity.”
The policemen entered the resident’s name in the police console and he was found not to be the individual for whom the police were searching. In the complaint Yado noted that the entire incident took place in front of other Yitzhar residents who were at the mikva.
Honenu Attorney Menasheh Yado added that, “The Central Unit policemen degraded an individual for no reason by violating his privacy, dignity and sexuality. In Yitzhar, policemen from the Central Unit of Yehuda and Shomron Police have crossed many limits and in this case crossed another limit by interrogating an individual against whom there were no concrete charges, while he was completely nude in the shower.”
The resident described his encounter with the policemen: “I went to the mikva to immerse before early morning prayers and suddenly in the shower, the curtain was opened and a Yassam policeman shined a flashlight at me and demanded my ID card. I told him, ‘Are you crazy? Do I shower with my ID card’?
“He left. I expected him to wait for me outside of the mikva. I immersed and went to the dressing room with a towel covering myself. He was waiting for me there and took my personal information. Only after that did he allow me to get dressed. It was an embarrassing and humiliating experience. Their conduct was inhumane and insulting.”