Director Scandar Copti
Photo: Uri Madmoni
'Ajami' actor detained in Jaffa, later released
Brothers of Israeli Oscar candidate's co-director arrested on suspicion of assaulting police officers south of Tel Aviv; One brother, Tony Copti, who had small part in award-winning film, a 'normative person' attorney says
Movie comes to life in Jaffa: A few days after Israeli film "Ajami", which depicts the harsh realities of a Jaffa neighborhood, was nominated for the Oscar, one of the film's actors was detained by police, Ynet found.
According to officials, Tony Copti, who is also the brother of film co-director Scandar Copti, was arrested Saturday on suspicion of assaulting police officers. In addition to his role in the film, Tony Copti also managed the filming site. His brother Jiries Copti was also detained.
The two were released Sunday morning and barred from entering their town of Jaffa for three days.
According to initial reports, police officers spotted several children in Jaffa, just south of Tel Aviv, playing with substances suspected as narcotics. While police attempted to question the children, Tony Copti and his brother Jiries arrived at the site and started to argue with police.
'Arrested for nothing'
According to relatives, Copti saw police officers attacking the children and came to their aid."The children merely wanted to bury their dogs, and the police apparently thought they were hiding drugs," a relative of Copti said. "Tony just wanted to help the kids, and certainly not to assault the police officers…his brother Jiries who was nearby also showed up, and then the police detained both of them. Believe me, they were arrested for nothing."
The brothers' attorney, Giora Zilberstein, said that "these are normative people who are Oscar nominees."
"They saw police officers who conducted themselves improperly towards children and attempted to protect them," the lawyer said. "Instead, the police arrested them, sprayed them with tear gas, and are charging them with assaulting officers. I intend to approach the police's internal affairs unit and ask that it look into the officers' conduct."
