Border Guard officers (Archive photo)
Photo: Reuters
Community service for Border Guard officer who shot Israeli-Arab
Haim Castro says shot Kfar Kassem resident in self-defense, judge accepts his version, states that if the prosecution would have demanded jail time he would have agreed
Border Guard officer Haim Castro received 6 months of community service on Sunday after being convicted of causing severe bodily harm to a young resident of Kfar Kassem, leaving him requiring several surgeries to his thigh.
In September 2003, Castro was a driver for a Border Guard reconnaissance unit operating in the northern Israel village. During a routine patrol, a confrontation broke out between the villagers and the officers, during which several locals, including Shadi Amar, were arrested. Amar's father, who arrived at the scene, tried to rescue him from the unit's jeep, when Castro aimed his weapon towards Amar and shot him in the lower part of his body.
Throughout his trial, Castro maintained that he aimed his weapons at the ground, claiming it was ricochets that hit Amar. Furthermore, Castro stated that during the event he "feared for his life," and acted on survival instincts.
Castro claimed that when the young Amar raised a stone he felt that his life was in danger, but Judge Halad Navov overruled his version of the events.
In his sentencing the judge wrote that while Castro acted under pressure and lack of experience, it by no way justified his behavior.
"It is upon the people working in law enforcement, including Border Guard officers, to act with restraint when dealing with the general population, and as such they must adhere to the protocol of engaging fire," wrote the judge.
