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Israel: soldier caught on camera planting gun in Palestinian's car

December 7, 2021 at 3:43 pm

Israeli forces in the West Bank on 25 November 2021 [Nedal Eshtayah/Anadolu Agency]

An Israeli soldier was caught on camera planting a gun in the vehicle of a 19-year-old Palestinian driver while he was being arrested last month, the Jerusalem Post has reported. The driver was charged with possession of “an automatic pistol-type weapon with the capacity to kill” and was held in jail for a month before being released on Sunday when the video evidence came to light.

The young man’s lawyer presented the video to the Southern District prosecution service and Beersheba District Court judge. The Israeli soldier can be heard asking, “Where is the pistol?” and one of his colleagues on the other side of the car responds by saying, “In the glove compartment.”

The first soldier then duly “finds” a gun wrapped in a black plastic bag. “That is not mine,” the Palestinian can be heard protesting.

Reviewing the soldier’s bodycam footage of the arrest, the lawyer noticed the sleight of hand when the “evidence” was planted in the glove compartment. He subsequently filed a complaint with the Police Internal Investigations Department (PIID), an Israeli Justice Ministry body tasked with investigating alleged police misconduct.

Details of the case have been handed over to the PIID, explained a prosecution official. “When the results of the inquiry are received, a decision will be made as to how to proceed with the case,” the official added.

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