Honenu Attorney Menashe Yado; Photo credit: Honenu
Monday, April 19, 2021, 16:55 Honenu Attorney Menashe Yado filed a complaint on behalf of a youth, with the Police Investigation Unit, against O., a policeman from the Jerusalem Police Department. The youth told Yado that O. threatened to make up a story that he had assaulted him and that he would file a false complaint over assaulting a policeman.
The incident occurred on the afternoon prior to the onset of the Passover holiday. The youth was detained for interrogation by the Jerusalem Police and before he was taken in to the police station, the policemen meticulously searched his home. The youth documented the search on his phone, and then he was loaded into the police car. Suddenly O. demanded that the youth give him his phone. The youth replied that his phone was not on him, and the policemen tried to search his home again, even though the initial search was over.
When they finally started driving towards the police station, O. claimed that the youth had demanded that he give his phone to him, which is not true. Then O. ordered the policeman next to him to stop recording, and told the youth, in the presence of two policemen, that he is going to say that the detained youth assaulted him, and then O. demonstrated how the youth supposedly assaulted him. O. told the other policemen, “You both saw that he assaulted me. Write that in your reports.”
When they reached the police station, while the youth could hear him, O. repeated to the other policemen that they should write up reports for assault. The complaint states that O.’s threat that he would file a false complaint is a serious threat, which violates the integrity of the judicial/investigative process and amounts to false testimony, fabrication of evidence, disruption of legal proceedings and more.
In conclusion, Yado recommended that the youth undergo a polygraph test regarding the circumstances of the complaint in order to validate his statements and ensure a thorough investigation. Additionally, Yado asked to examine the police action reports of the policemen from the incident and also the video clips documenting the ride to the police station.