clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Palestinian activist assaulted in custody questioned over ‘insulting’ Israel cop

June 13, 2018 at 12:29 pm

Jafar Farah, director of rights group Mossawa and Palestinian citizen of Israel – (Twitter)

Jafar Farah, director of rights group Mossawa and Palestinian citizen of Israel, said yesterday that Israeli police have brought a new accusation against him of insulting an officer, reported Haaretz.

Farah’s leg was broken in police custody last month, after he was arrested – along with many others – during a protest in Haifa against Israeli forces’ lethal crackdown on protesters in the Gaza Strip.

In a four-hour session with police yesterday, “Farah said investigators quoted testimony they had taken from Lior Hatam, the officer Farah accused of beating him, who has since been placed on administrative leave,” the paper reported.

“It was amazing to hear them asking questions about a policeman who broke my leg,” Farah said. “They didn’t ask if he beat me.”

READ: Palestinian MEMO cartoonist detained by Israel forces 

Having previously been accused of “illegal assembly”, Farah stated that the suspicion of “insulting a policeman” was new, but that he does not know who complained about him.

“I hope that it isn’t Lior Hatam,” Farah said, “because after all, a person who wrote racist things on his Facebook page, a man who attacked detainees…I assume that they shouldn’t rely on his testimony I don’t know who exactly I insulted.”

Farah said he hopes Hatam will be indicted.

“That will be our opportunity to bring up the commander of the Haifa Police, the commander of Yasam [the Special Patrol Unit] there who acted illegally there,” he said. Farah added that he intends to personally sue those who acted against him “illegally”.

According to a police statement issued Monday night, the “investigation hasn’t been concluded yet, and in order to enable its completion, it was decided to extend the policeman’s enforced leave by another 10 days.”

Data: Israel arrested more than 600 Palestinians in May