Israel Police has been ordered to compensate a minor who has been unlawfully and brutally arrested after having filed a claim for assault, false arrest, negligence, fraud and more. In addition, the police will open an investigation into the conduct of the policemen, whose versions revealed inconsistencies that do not appear to be compatible with what appears in the video documenting the incident.

The police will compensate a minor in the amount of NIS 12,000, after being violently arrested by the police six months ago in Jerusalem, as part of a compromise arrangement between the parties. In addition, the police opened an investigation into the conduct of the policemen alleged in the suit, stating that the policemen acted violently and also gave false versions of the incident, which do not coincide with what appeared in the video taken by the minor.

After the violent arrest, the minor was released after the Juvenile Court ruled that the detention was carried out unlawfully. The minor sued the Israel Police for the violent arrest that took place in front of the passersby in the street, and in the lawsuit filed by attorney Menashe Yado of the Honenu, it was emphasized that “The heart of the prosecution is actually documented in the decision to release him from detention, in which the court ruled that the prosecutor would immediately release him from illegal detention by the Israel Police”.

It was written that the 16-year-old was under an administrative order that included the night house arrest in his parents’ home in Jerusalem. Policemen from a Jerusalem station carried out nightly checks at the family’s home to ensure that the suspect was in compliance with the house arrest order, leading to significant suffering to the family. In the circumstances of the detention in question, the police deviated in an extreme and severe manner from the limits permitted by law.

Six months ago, two policewomen visited the home of the minor to ensure that he was in compliance with the terms of the administrative night arrest. The policemen asked him to present an identity card, but since he was a minor, he did not have one. After an unpleasant outburst, the policewomen left the area, without making arrest.

The next morning, two cars arrived at the home of the minor, and the policemen asked that the minor go out to them. In the video taken by the minor, he heard clearly that after he had gone out to the street and met with the policemen, one of the policemen told him, “You are under arrest for attacking a policeman.” The police then assaulted the boy “in a completely unbridled manner and without justification, beat him, took him to the sidewalk, handcuffed him and dragged him to a car, and all in the street in front of his father who became hysterical as well as passersby, stunned children” as detailed in the lawsuit.

Later, the police gave false statements to the court that they informed the minor that he was being detained, not arrested, and only because of the violence that the minor demonstrated, it was decided to arrest him.

In the summary of the injustices, it was stated that these were the offenses of assault, false arrest, fraud, and a constitutional injustice to the Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, and the minor sued the police for the damages caused to him, both physical and mental.

As stated, in a compromise agreement signed between the parties it was decided that the police will compensate the minor for NIS 12,000, and will also begin an investigation into the conduct of the policemen in the incident.

“We presented clear evidence to the State Prosecutor’s Office that we won this lawsuit within three months without the state defending itself at all,” said Menashe Yado, a lawyer representing the minor. At the same time, they agreed to our demands to keep up to date with the police’s procedures regarding the policemen who harmed the plaintiff.

“We will follow these procedures to see that it does not end with the payment of compensation at the expense of the taxpayer, but that appropriate steps are also taken against the policemen who committed the wrongs and offenses in custody, in the hope that there will be both financial justice and justice at the disciplinary and public level”.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)