NOVANEWS
Judges: Israel Police has no written protocol for how to return a Palestinian residing illegally in Israel to the Palestinian Authority.
Haaretz
A Jerusalem court on Monday shortened by nine months the sentence of two Israeli police officers convicted of negligent homicide, after they dumped an injured Palestinian man on the side of the road leaving him to die. The judges also rejected the officers’ appeal of the original verdict.
The Jerusalem District Court reduced from 30 months to 21 months the jail term for Baruch Peretz and Assaf Yakutieli, the two officers involved in the incident.
The event occurred June 12, 2008, following a chain of events that began after the Palestinian man, Omar Abu Jariban, stole a car and caused a road accident with it. He was hospitalized at Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, where he remained for two weeks before being released into the custody of Rehovot police while still requiring medical attention. The officers had planned to transfer him to an Israel Prison Service medical facility, but there was no room for him there. Peretz, who was the commanding officer on duty that night, instructed the patrol officer, Yakutieli, to drive him to the West Bank.
Abu Jariban was left at the side of Route 443, where he died of dehydration. His remains were found two days later.
In May 2012, Peretz and Yakutieli were convicted of negligent homicide and sentenced to 30 months in prison.
Three Jerusalem District Court judges, Yoram Noam, Moshe Bar-Am and Carmi Mossek, on Monday rejected the officers’ appeal of the verdict, ruling that, factually and legally, there was a correlation between their negligence and Abu Jariban’s death. The justices said the both officers’ behavior contributed to the deadly decision to abandon Abu Jariban.
Despite this, the judges decided to reduce the officers’ sentencing by nine months, writing that the Israel Police has no written protocol for how to return a Palestinian residing illegally in Israel to the Palestinian Authority.
