Two officers sentenced to 30 months in jail following death of Palestinian prisoner

The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court sentenced two police officers on Monday to 30 months in prison for causing the death of a detained Palestinian car thief whom they abandoned at the side of the road in 2008.

The officers, Baruch Peretz and Asaf Yekutieli, were convicted in late May.

Omar Abu J’riban, 35, entered Israel illegally from Gaza and was seriously injured when a car he stole rolled over near the Sorek Interchange on Route 6, not far from Rehovot. He was brought to Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot, and later transferred to the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer due to the severity of his injuries, which included broken bones and brain hemorrhaging.

For reasons that remain unclear, J’riban was released two weeks later to police custody; the indictment suggests that Peretz and Yekutieli were going to return him to the Palestinian territories, even though doing so was against police regulations.

According to Haaretz, upon his release, the hospital recorded contradictory medical opinions on his discharge papers. A doctor wrote that the patient was fit for release and could exercise at home. A nurse wrote on a separate discharge sheet that J’riban exhibited erratic orientation and communication skills, that he was periodically confused, needed assistance in eating and was still attached to a catheter.

The police officers, not knowing the patient’s identity, decided to bring him to the Israel Prison Service’s medical facility. When they learned that there was no space at the facility for him, Peretz, who was on duty at the Rehovot station, ordered the lower-ranking Yekutieli to leave the prisoner at the side of the road near the Atarot Junction, north of Jerusalem, despite J’riban’s fragile health after being discharged from the hospital. J’riban was abandoned at 3:00 a.m. at the side of the road near the Atarot Junction, north of Jerusalem. He was barefoot, in pajamas and still connected to a catheter. He subsequently died of dehydration and his body was found two days later.

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In the sentence, Judge Chaim Li-Ran described the actions of Peretz and Yekutieli as “ugly and horrifying.”

“I cannot understand how, being fully aware of the prisoner’s physical and mental condition, they could close their eyes from seeing, from understanding and internalizing the plight of another human being,” wrote Li-Ran, “…to just leave him, in his condition, in the dead of night on a dark road… with nothing.”

Li-Ran added that the sentence was intended to send a very clear message to anybody in a position of authority to not behave as Peretz and Yekutieli did. “No police officer may abandon human values and basic universal decency… the right of every person to life and dignity, regardless of their national origin.”

Li-Ran also wrote that “it is important to remember, that the power of a police officer…in a democratic state does not come from his club, a taser gun, or any other weapon at his disposal. Rather, it comes first and foremost from his caliber of humanity and morality.”

Zadok Huzi, the attorney for Baruch Peretz called the sentence “insane” and said that he will appeal the court’s decision.

Batya Kolitz, of Police Investigations Department supported the ruling, saying that “seriousness of the punishment fits the seriousness of the crime.”