RSS Feed
August 23rd, 2020 
Awake Goy A 70-year-old man died earlier this month, a year after he was brutally attacked by his cellmate at a facility in Jerusalem, Channel 12 reported on Saturday.
According to the report, Avi Ben Shahar, 70, who lived in West Bank settlement of Kochav HaShahar was arrested last year. The outlet did not give a reason for his detention. It said he had no previous arrests.
He apparently appeared in court, where his family members said they were concerned for his well-being and requested he be held under close supervision. The judge was said to have agreed, and the order was made.
According to the report, a few days later, the Israel Prison Service gave him a cellmate who was described as a violent individual, who was allegedly under the influence of drugs and in the midst of a psychotic episode.
Hussein Abu Ta’a, was a 25-year-old East Jerusalem resident and a martial arts expert who had been arrested after he attacked family members, passersby, and police officers.
Ben Shahar’s children said that shortly after midnight, Abu Ta’a brutally attacked their father as he slept. They said it apparently took a number of minutes for prison officers to prepare before they could enter the cell, at which point some of them were also injured during the attack.
Hillel Ben Shahar (L) and Shula Hadad (R) whose father died a year after a prison attack, broadcast August 23, 2020 (Screen grab/Channel 12 news)
“It was a lynching while my father slept,” son Hillel Ben Shahar told the outlet. “My father was asleep. He did not know what was going to come to him, the angel of death. It’s just insane negligence.”
“He could not be identified by his face. He was completely bruised, his ear was severed. He had fractures to the eye sockets, and his nose was inside his skull, as well as a broken jaw and broken ribs,” said Ben Shahar’s daughter, Shula Hadad.
After a year of hospital care, surgeries and nursing, Ben Shahar died.
The family said they hope that Abu Ta’a will be charged with their father’s murder and have said the Israel Prison Service bears responsibility for putting the two men together in a cell.
“As far as we are concerned, my father was in a safe place. He was supposed to be safe and secure in their hands. We did not imagine that this could happen,” said Hadad. “I am living in a nightmare. I want to wake up and find it was a dream.”
The prison service responded to the report, saying in a statement that it had opened an investigation and disciplinary action had been taken against a number of officials as a result of the incident.
“It was an unusual and unfortunate incident that the IPS does not take lightly. The incident occurred without any intelligence information or preliminary signs,” the statement read. “As a result of the recommendations of the inquiry, the commander of the detention center was sentenced to disciplinary action, removed from office and dismissed from command positions. Disciplinary measures were taken against three other officials and they were removed from office.”
Related posts:
Views: 0
Posted in 
Tags: 
