11 teens charged with beating foreigners
Teens allegedly robbed, assaulted migrants from Sudan and Eritrea; State Prosecutor says attacks racially motivated
A group of 11 teens from Tel Aviv has been charged with attacking Sudanese and Eritrean migrants. According to the indictment, the youths (all aged 14-18) have for the last month been attacking foreigners in "revenge" attacks.
The indictment, submitted by the Tel Aviv District Prosecutor to the Magistrate's Youth Court, states that 10 of the group are accused of "racially motivated" attacks in which the teens would attack foreigners who crossed their path, and in some cases rob them. A teenage girl is accused of property crimes but not of assault.
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Three of the incidents took place in near the Hatikva market in Tel Aviv. The defendants reportedly attacked foreigners using boards and pipes. In two cases, they stole the plaintiffs' bicycles.
Another incident happened near Beit Dani, in which the teens allegedly attacked an Eritrean citizen with boards, rocks, and a metal chain, beating him about his head and body. The man had to be taken to a hospital for medical treatment. In another case near Gan Hatikva, a foreigner was beaten with motorcycle helmets, a golf club, and a chain.
Police arrest a man at a violent anti-migrant protest in TA. (Photo: Yaron Brenner)
In yet another attack cited in the indictment, some of the suspects reportedly broke into a store owned by a foreigner and stole NIS 2,000 worth of merchandise. Some of the teens are accused of breaking into another store, as well, and emptying the register. The suspects are charged with involvement in criminal acts, violent assault, robbery, committing bodily harm, breaking and entering, and robbery.
The state prosecutor has decided to attach a racist motive to all the aforementioned charges, which according to the law would allow a judge to double the maximum sentences for the crimes if the police provide evidence proving the existence of such a motive.
Sign reads: Our daily lives - neglect, crime, rape, violence (Photo: Yaron Brenner)
Attorney Moran Lavi of the State Prosecutor's office has asked the court to issue an arrest warrant for some of the suspects and place the rest under restriction.
The prosecution is arguing that the suspects chose to take the law into their own hands and bring an entire sector to "justice" solely on the basis of their ethnic and national origins.
"They did this through serious violence, brutality, and bullying, and in some of the incidents even used weapons," the prosecutor said. "The suspects chose to attack (the) victims at random, without any previous acquaintance, simply because they encountered them and because (the victims) are foreigners."
