Ethiopian-Israeli’s family cries out after cops cleared in death

Family members of an Ethiopian Israeli man found dead in 2014 have spoken out angrily at a Knesset panel discussion a day after an internal investigation cleared police in the death.

“I’m burning [mad],” the mother of Yosef Salamsa says at the hearing called to discuss allegations of police violence against members of the Ethiopian Israeli community.

Salamsa was found dead in a quarry in the northern city of Binyamina in July 2014. Police determined he had committed suicide.

But Ethiopian-Israeli community activists and his family say Salamsa was the victim of repeated abuse by police officers, a factor that may have contributed to his suicide.

On Sunday, investigators said no evidence was found of criminal conduct by police officers, though several instances of misconduct warranted internal disciplinary steps.

Salamsa’s sister, also at the hearing, makes an impassioned plea for the officers to be punished, according to Ynet.

“Our child is no more and the Police Investigations Department clears the officers who need to stand trial, what country are we living in?” she asks angrily.

MK Karin Elharar, chairing the panel, calls the decision to close the case “shocking” and accuses police of not even “using a Band-Aid” to deal with the problem.

State Comptroller Yosef Shapira, also at the hearing, says a report to be released in the coming days contains an extensive chapter tackling police abuse of Ethiopian Israelis.

A police representative at the hearing says police have a right to defend themselves and says no evidence was found of criminal wrongdoing, according to the report.