Prison Service workers face dismissal for beating Eritrean asylum seeker

The Israel Prison Service on Monday said it had begun disciplinary proceedings against two of its employees involved in the brutal beating of an Eritrean man who was mistaken for a terrorist during an attack at the Beersheba Central Bus Station on October 18.

Inspector Ronen Cohen and an unidentified Prison Service warden could be formally relieved of their duties at an IPS disciplinary hearing on Thursday, Channel 2 reported. Both have been suspended until then.

“This is an unnecessary and inappropriate process in light of the fact that the prosecution has yet to decide whether or not to file charges against my client,” Cohen’s attorney Ido Porat said, according to the report. “I intend to utilize any means possible to prevent his dismissal from the IPS.”

Haftom Zarhum, aged 29, died in the hospital after he was shot by a security guard who thought he had just taken part in a terror attack that left an Israeli soldier dead and another 11 people wounded. While writhing on the floor, he was repeatedly beaten by an enraged mob.

Last week, Cohen, the warden and two other Israelis were identified from the CCTV footage showing the mob of bystanders brutally beating Zarhum. The four were arrested and charged with aggravated assault.

A day later, a Beersheba Magistrate’s Court released the four on NIS 10,000 bond each, and ordered them all not to contact one another for 30 days.

The prosecution requested the court place the four under house arrest, but Judge Amir Doron said the suspects did not pose sufficient danger to justify that, especially before an indictment had been drafted.

During last week’s hearing, Doron directed harsh criticism against Cohen for his suspected involvement in the attack.

“There is no law in Israel that allows people — even if they are in uniform — to take the law into their own hands in the aftermath of an attack where the terrorist has been neutralized, to beat an injured man lying on the floor, even if they believe they are doing their job,” Doron wrote in his decision.

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.”

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.”

Pathologists determined that Zarhum died from internal bleeding due to a gunshot wound, not the repeated blows to the head he subsequently suffered.

The head of the Israel Prison Service has condemned the actions of its employees, saying that “violence contradicts the values of the organization.”

The attack on Zarhum 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 — including the two soldiers — repeatedly kicking him in the head as a bus driver tries to protect him. One man is seen holding a knife, while curses and shouts of “Kill him!” are heard from the crowd.

Raoul Wootlif contributed to this report.