Lawyer to compensate officer for 'Arab loser' remark

Attorney pulled over on Coastal Highway tells policeman, 'I'll have you thrown off the force.' Court says insults have 'hint of racism'; hands him three-month suspended sentence

Naama Cohen-Friedman|Published: 01.11.11 , 16:53

The Tel Aviv Magistrates' Court ordered an attorney who called a police officer an "Arab loser" to pay him NIS 1,800 ($503) in compensation.

According to the indictment, after being pulled over by Officer Yazid Qa'abya for committing a traffic violation on the Coastal Highway, the lawyer shoved the officer and said, "I'll get you in trouble…We'll see how long you'll remain a police officer…I'll show that Arab…I'll have him thrown off the force…You're an Arab loser."

In the framework of a plea bargain, the lawyer admitted to the charges against him and the traffic violation will be kept off his record. The defendant represented himself.

Prior to the conviction, the Probation Service said the court should consider the "stress" the defendant was under due to "personal issues." It also said the defendant would likely lose his job if convicted.

The prosecutor rejected the attorney's claims, saying "the severity of the defendant's conduct warrants a conviction.

"As an attorney, the defendant is more aware than the average person of the obligation to abide by the law, in a way that makes his conduct even more severe," the prosecutor said.

In the ruling, Judge Dorit Reich-Shapira said "the insults hurled by the defendant had a hint of racism in them, to say the least."

The court convicted the attorney of making threats, insulting a public employee and verbally assaulting an on-duty officer. He was handed a three-month suspended sentence.