Four police officers arrested as detainee abuse scandal expands

The four are due for a hearing Wednesday morning in the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
Handcuffs [Illustrative] (photo credit: INIMAGE)
Handcuffs [Illustrative]
(photo credit: INIMAGE)
The Police Investigation Department on Wednesday announced an expansion of the latest detainee abuse scandal, with four police officers being arrested in conjunction with alleged abuse of a detainee three years ago.
The four had a hearing on Wednesday morning in the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court, which ordered them remanded to extended police custody pending continuing of the investigation until at least Friday and Sunday, respectively.
On Tuesday, the PID announced that a senior police commander and interrogator was under investigation for abusing a detainee three years ago, but did not mention the other three policemen.
The senior police commander’s name is still under gag order, but the additional three men were named on Wednesday as Tzion Hayun, Yossi Bar and Avi Izri.
The allegations cited include pouring scalding hot water on the detainee multiple times when the detainee gave answers to questions that the interrogator, who serves in the Southern District, did not like.
The abuse resulted in burns on multiple parts of the detainee’s body, the statement said.
The incident only came to light recently, leading to a secret investigation which revealed evidence confirming the detainee’s claims of abuse, it continued.
The statement called the conduct “severe” and “disgraceful.”
Usually such announcements are made preceding later stages of an investigation that will soon lead to a public indictment of the policeman.
Dr. Ishai Menuchin, head of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, said he was “pleased that the Police Investigation Department opened an investigation and hopes that the investigation does not conclude like the other 93 percent of complaints to PID with closing the case. If the case is closed, we hope that it is because of the interrogator’s innocence and not because of a systematic policy to close cases.”


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