The state prosecutor's office is delaying the civil suit procedure of a resident of Judea and Samaria who filed a civil suit against the police officers who beat him while they were demolishing a vineyard near the settlement of Shiloh.
The investigation of the police officers led the prosecutor's office to delay the procedure.
During the incident half a year ago, one of the residents who protested against the demolition claims that he was violently attacked by police officers, including suffering many punches while he was pinned down on the road, chokeholds, knees and kicks, one of which was a particularly forceful kick directly to his face.
After the attack, the victim filed a civil lawsuit against the violent policemen in the amount of NIS 75,000 through attorney Eladi Wiesel from the Honenu legal aid organization to the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, at the same time as the complaint to the police, which began investigating the incident.
Now, half a year after the attack, the investigation of the police department is proceeding slowly and at the same time the prosecutor's office is delaying the civil lawsuit process by repeated requests to postpone the submission of the policemen's statement of defense against the lawsuit, which it claims is to allow the police department to complete the investigation.
In response to the requests, Attorney Wiesel submitted a response to the court in which he explained that the prosecutor's office was given a very long period of time to respond to the statement of claim and that there is no reason for the victim to be harmed by the conduct of the prosecutor's office and that both legal proceedings can be conducted at the same time. The court accepted Wiesel's claims and ordered the prosecutor's office submit within two months a statement of defense on behalf of the police officers.
Attorney Wiesel said that "if the suffering that the victim went through when he was attacked by police thugs was not enough, then even after he was able to claim the compensation he deserves, the prosecutor's office inflicts on him additional and unnecessary hardship and heartache. It is expected that the prosecutor's office will not accept a situation in which the police investigation department drags its feet, will be reluctant and will even harm the functioning of the civil department. This is outrageous conduct that has been made into a kind of 'acceptable practice' in the prosecution's handling of claims about police violence. Conduct that is seen as a flawed attempt to make it difficult for the victims of police violence to claim compensation, or unfortunately to make a complete peace with regard to the harm caused due to the police dragging their feet."
"The prosecutor's office should not try to evade its commitment to the rules of procedure as if they were intended only for the ordinary citizen. Seven months is enough and more time is allowed to investigate a simple complaint and it is expected that the prosecutor's office will stop the practice of evasion, will encourage the police not to delay unnecessarily, and will face the substance of the facts against the claims of the prosecution."