5 summoned for pre-indictment hearing over attack on Eritrean

The Prosecutor’s Office for the Southern District on Thursday summoned five Israelis to a pre-indictment hearing for their suspected involvement in the brutal beating of an Eritrean asylum seeker who was mistaken for a terrorist in an attack at the Beersheba Central Bus Station on October 18.

The suspects — two Israel Prison Service employees, an IDF soldier and two civilians — face charges of aggravated assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm for their alleged role in the brutal attack against Haftom Zarhum, Israel’s Ynet news website reported.

IPS inspector Ronen Cohen could face additional charges of assault for attacking a bus driver who attempted to stop the enraged mob as they repeatedly beat, kicked and slammed a metal bench onto the Eritrean man, even after he was incapacitated and writhing on the floor.

Twenty-nine-year-old Zarhum died in hospital from injuries sustained when he was shot by a security guard who also thought he had just taken part in the attack that left an Israeli soldier dead and 11 people wounded.

CCTV footage from the incident showed Zarhum attempting to flee the scene, only to be gunned down and then kicked repeatedly in the head by the crowd. Pathologists later determined that Zarhum died from internal bleeding due to a gunshot wound, not the repeated blows he subsequently suffered.

Last month, Cohen, an IPS warden and two others were arrested after police were able to positively identify them from the footage that captured the attack. Its not clear if or when the IDF soldier was arrested.

After the attack, Cohen defended his actions in a Facebook post saying: ”I acted automatically. I thought that this was a terrorist who still poses a threat to me and to everyone there.” His lawyer, Ido Porat, told Channel 2 last month that the charges against Cohen were “unnecessary and inappropriate,” and vowed to “utilize any means possible to prevent his dismissal from the IPS.”

Cohen and the warden were suspended from their jobs and faced permanent dismissal pending a workplace disciplinary hearing.

Beersheba Magistrate’s Court Judge Amir Doron directed harsh criticism against the suspects — especially Cohen — for their response to the attack. Doron said once the man was obviously subdued, there was “no place, justification or need for the respondent to join in the violence that followed.”

Dan Grobes, the attorney for the prison warden, said he believed that his client would not be officially indicted. “Any reasonable person who sees the film can see there was nothing wrong with his actions,” Grobes said.

The attack on Zarhum was met with widespread outrage in Israel after a graphic video posted on the Channel 10 website showed the severity of the attack. The CCTV footage showed a number of people repeatedly kicking him in the head as the bus driver tries to protect him. One man is holding a knife, while curses and shouts of “Kill him!” can be heard from the crowd.

Raoul Wootlif contributed to this report.