Abuse of power (Illustration)
Photo: CD Bank
Indictment: Police officers assaulted Arab detainee
Three Yarkon Subdistrict Police officers face charges of aggravated assault, abuse of power, breach of trust and intimidation after abusing Israeli Arab detainee for no reason
Three Yarkon Subdistrict Police officers were indicted on assault charges against an Arab detainee Sunday.
According to the charges, filed with the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court, the three – Oz Cohen, Moshe Cohen and Nisso Tahar – brutally assaulted Tariq abu-Laban, an Israeli Arab resident of east Jerusalem, for no reason.
The indictment alleged that in June of 2008, the three spotted abu-Laban near the David Intercontinental Hotel in central Tel Aviv. They pulled him over and asked for identification, but when he handed them the papers, they through them back at his face and ordered him out of the car.
While getting out of the car, he reportedly looked at a woman passing by. According to the allegations, the police officers warned him to "stop looking at Jewish girls or we'll beat the hell out of you."
They then ordered him to get into the police cruiser. Two of them sat on either side of him and then handcuffed him, punched him, kicked him in the head and stomped his chest, all while verbally abusing and threatening to file police charges against him and "ruin his life."
According to the case file, when the plaintiff asked the officers why they were beating him, one of them said "because you're a son of a bitch Arab."
When they were done, the three drove abu-Laban back to the hotel. He then drove to Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital in Jerusalem, where he was treated for multiple contusions.
All three officers now face charged of aggravated assault, abuse of power, breach of trust and intimidation.
