Court orders state to hand over investigatory material on Albert
State says it's only obligated to provide "relevant" information about restraining order against settler, not use of taser gun.
By TOVAH LAZAROFFYitzhar resident Boaz Albert arrest 370(photo credit: YouTube Screenshot)
A Petah Tikva court on Tuesday ordered the state to turn over all evidence with regard to the arrest of Yitzhar resident Boaz Albert, whose case was made famous by a video that depicted police giving electric shocks to his chest with a Taser gun as he lay on the floor of his home.As a result of the video, the police have suspended the use of Taser guns during arrests, pending an investigation into the incident.Albert was arrested for violating a restraining order to stay away from the West Bank and his home in the Yitzhar settlement for half a year.On Tuesday Albert’s attorney Adi Kedar complained to the Beit Hashalom court that the state had failed to turn over to his office all the evidence with regard to Albert’s arrest.The state told the court it was mandated to give Kedar “relevant” information, but not all the information.This meant, the state said, that it only needed to give Kedar information with regard to Albert’s violation of the restraining order and not his arrest and the use of the Taser gun.But Judge Nachum Sternlicht sided with Kedar and his client Albert. He ordered the state to hand over all the evidence, including information relevant to Albert’s arrest.The state countered that the investigation into Albert’s arrest was still ongoing and that the evidence included confidential information with regard to the arrest.Kedar countered that police had accused Albert of attacking them during the arrest. Kedar said it was impossible to defend his client without seeing all the evidence against him.
The judge sided with Kedar and said that his order that all evidence be given to Kedar still stands and that the order should be carried out by Wednesday at 1 p.m.A further hearing on the case, he said, would be held on Thursday.
