Cops charged with brutality

Two policemen accused of punching, kicking anti-disengagement protester; charges detail harrowing account of abuse that began on the street and continued in police station

TEL AVIV - Two police officers are facing charges of abuse Thursday, following claims they attacked a right-wing activist, Akavia Vitkin, during an anti-pullout protest in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan.

The Police Complaints Commission said charges would be brought against the two men, senior officer Eran Naim, and his deputy, Avraham Eliran, who will appear in the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court on Sunday.

According to the indictment, a policeman wrestled with Vitkin and forced him to lie down on the ground during a June 29 protest against the disengagement, .

After the protester was on the ground, the policeman shoved his fingers into the protester’s nostrils.

After Vitkin was arrested, he was taken to be interrogated, where he was made to sit on a table with his hands cuffed behind his back.

During the investigation, prosecutors say Eliran punched, slapped and and head butted Vitkin, as well as slamming his head against the wall, while saying “we’ll subdue you.”