Commander in Dahariya taxi incident indicted

Officer accused of leading soldiers to unauthorized raid in Palestinian village, hijacking cab driver and shooting civilian. According to indictment, commander secretly planned operation, instructed his subordinates to lie to investigators

Hanan Greenberg
Published: 08.09.07, 13:47 / Israel News

An IDF officer was indicted Thursday for false imprisonment, aggravated assault, soliciting false information and other offenses, following his role in the kidnapping of a Palestinian cab driver and the shooting of a Palestinian civilian two weeks ago.

The Incident

Palestinian cab driver relates hijacking, shooting incident / Ali Waked

Six IDF soldiers drove through Dahariya in cab they stole from Muhammad Issa Maharaza, while he was bound in the back seat. Maharaza describes to Ynet what happened during ride, which ended in near-fatal shooting of Palestinian youth. 'They asked his name and when he told them, they shot him' he says

Full Story

The commander is accused of leading his soldiers on an unauthorized raid in the village, during which they hijacked a taxi, blindfolded the driver, and later shot and wounded a passerby.

According to the indictment, filed by the Military Advocate General, the commander, a lieutenant, initiated and planned the raid, without receiving his superiors' authorization. The officer apparently planned the operation in secret, and carried out actions that were uncalled for and would not have been approved.

The indictment further stated that the Palestinian civilian was shot by one of the soldiers acting on his commander's orders and despite the fact the man posed no threat to the force. Furthermore, the force reportedly left the injured man, who was suffering from bleeding in his lung and broken ribs, unattended.

A second indictment against the officer claimed that he forced his subordinates to give false testimonies during questioning following the incident, and instructed them to tell investigators that they boarded the cab due to one of the troops' injury. He also told them to deny that they were wearing civilian clothes.

The Military Advocate General demanded that the officer remain in custody and the Jaffa military court is scheduled to rule on the matter later Thursday.

Meanwhile, hearings for the other soldiers who took part in the incident have also been held in recent days, and a decision in their cases is scheduled within several days.

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