Israel Police officers appeared to have planted a gun in the car of a 19-year-old Bedouin man in a video of his arrest.
The man was indicted in November for possession of “an automatic pistol-type weapon with the capacity to kill.”He spent more than a month in detention prior to being released on Sunday after a video, where a police officer can be visibly seen planting the firearm, came to light.
Though the man was originally pulled over for talking on the phone while driving, it was later discovered that he had been driving an unlicensed vehicle, apparently prompting the search. The police had yet to search his vehicle before determining that he was in possession of a weapon.
In the video, the man can be seen talking to one of the policemen from the driver’s side seat where the officer asked him if he had a gun, and another officer, visible in the background on the passenger side responded that there was a weapon in the glove compartment. The man’s lawyers requested to view the video of his arrest and from that conclude that the police officers had attempted to incriminate an innocent person.
Following his lawyers’ discovery, Southern District Attorneys and Judge Nasser Abu-Taha were presented with the findings. The man was released on Sunday and a complaint was filed to the Police Investigation Department, though the case has not been closed. Prosecutors believe that there are issues with the recordings.
The State Attorney’s Office responded saying that they had submitted all of the information to the Department of Police Investigations for review and that they are awaiting results, following which it will be decided how the case will proceed.
The Israel Police stand by their claims that the driver was in illegal possession of a weapon, and said that following their initial search, any information surrounding the case should be provided by the prosecutor’s office.