Nadim Injaz
Photo: EPA
Palestinian prisoner compensated after headbutted by prison guard
Prison service says Nadim Injaz, jailed for breaking into the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv in 2010, spat on the cellblock commander, with the latter instinctively reacting by headbutting the prisoner; court orders IPS to pay Injaz NIS 20,000 in damages.
The Israel Prison Service (IPS) was ordered to pay a former Palestinian prisoner NIS 20,000 in compensation after a warden was caught on camera headbutting him.
Nadim Injaz, 40, from Ramallah, was sentenced to two years in prison in October 2010 after breaking into the Turkish embassy in Tel Aviv and trying to take hostages.
He was convicted of extortion and intimidation, breaking and entering under aggravated circumstances and illegally entering Israel.
Nadim Injaz
The headbutting incident occurred while Injaz was being transferred—despite his objections—from cellblock 12 to the protective custody section of the Eshel Prison in Be'er Sheva, after the IPS received intelligence on plans to harm Injaz.
However, Injaz refused to be transferred to the protective custody section, claiming he did not wish to be imprisoned with prisoners convicted of pedophilia and other sex crimes.
Security footage of the incident shows the cellblock commander headbutting Injaz, who was handcuffed and surrounded by 10 other wardens.
In his defense, the cellblock commander claimed the prisoner spat on his face, to which he instinctively reacted by headbutting him.
Nadim Injaz (Photo: EPA)
"Instead of keeping him in solitary confinement until a decision is made about him, the wardens pulled him by force, and after he objected, one of the wardens headbutted him, while he was in handcuffs," said Injaz's lawyer, Bezalel Emanuel.
The IPS urged the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court to throw out the lawsuit, claiming Injaz was a "serial complainant" who provoked the wardens and spat on the cellblock commander. Furthermore, the IPS claimed, the prisoner suffered no injury as a result of the incident.
Injaz sued for NIS 100,000 in damages for the pain and suffering he allegedly endured, but the two sides eventually settled for NIS 20,000.
The cellblock commander was convicted at the IPS's disciplinary court and was reprimanded.
