Hazing incident: Suspects hit soldier with 'superman' blows

During remand hearing, military prosecutor claims 10 veteran troops continued beating young soldier even after he collapsed. Suspects: On a scale of 1 to10 the blows were only at strength of four

Yoav Zitun|Published: 08.05.12 , 19:25

Ten soldiers from the Nahshon Batallion in the Kfir Brigade, who are suspected of hazing a subordinate soldier, were brought Sunday afternoon in front of a military judge for a remand hearing.

The Kfir Brigade combat soldier has been hospitalized at the Haemek Medical Center's surgical ward suffering from a ruptured spleen since Thursday.

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During the hearing, the military prosecutor said the suspects "hit the soldier with 'superman' blows, which are considered especially strong. In between the beatings, the solider collapsed and then they lifted him up, hugged him and gave him an iPhone pouch as a gift."

The Military Police arrested 11 soldiers on suspicion of involvement in the hazing, but later released one of them.

According to an initial investigation, the soldier was attacked after "daring" to touch the "seniority stick" – a bar with special markings that indicate the seniority of combatants who have just a few months left in their service.

The prosecutor revealed further details about the brutal attack, saying that every time the soldier collapsed, the suspects lifted him back up and continued to beat him.

החשודים. "החייל קם לשמירה והתמוטט" (צילום: מוטי קמחי)

Suspects brought to remand hearing (Photo: Moti Kimhi)

"When the soldier grabbed the left side of his abdomen and chest in pain, the suspects hit him on the other side. After the incident the soldier had to sleep on the lower level of the bunk bed, because he was in too much pain to climb to the upper bed. At 5am, he woke up for his guarding round, and then collapsed and was taken to the hospital.

"The attack was planned and timed carefully," the prosecutor added. "They decided ahead of time what the punishment will be and how to execute it." According to the prosecution, the soldier asked the suspects to stop, but he was afraid that they will get even angrier with him.

The soldier was hospitalized with fractured ribs and a ruptured spleen. "Only yesterday he was allowed to eat independently, and he is still not allowed to get up from his bed. He will remain in the hospital until Friday at the very earliest, and might still need to undergo surgery," the prosecutor added.

The suspects claimed on their part that on a scale of 1 to10, the strength of the blows was only around four. One of the suspects' attorneys noted that his client also suffered such beatings when he was a young soldier.

The suspects further claimed that the testimony collected from the soldier on Friday was done in the presence of the division commander, with whom they have a bad relationship, and this may have affected the testimony.