An indictment was submitted to the court against a father and son residents of Beit Shemesh, after they attacked a man who asked protesters to stay away from his house | Their lawyers: “In this case, the formations were reversed – so the complainant is the one who attacked the minor and other minors who were present, while the father tried to separate the parties”
An ultra-Orthodox father and his minor son, residents of Beit Shemesh, were arrested about two weeks ago at the end of a demonstration that took place in the city after they attacked and injured one of the residents who asked the demonstrators to stay away from the area of his home. Today the police prosecution unit in the Jerusalem district filed an indictment against them. According to a version, he was not involved in the demonstration but tried to separate the parties.
The investigators of the Beit Shemesh station completed the investigation of the two defendants in the last few days, and today, as mentioned, the Jerusalem Prosecution Unit filed charges against them in court, along with a request for their arrest until the end of the legal proceedings.
Late in the evening, a protest was held on Nahar Jordan Street in Beit Shemesh, near the victim’s home. At some point, the neighbor came down from his house and asked to disperse the protesters and after he did not succeed, he made his way back to his house.
At this point, according to the facts of the indictment, the defendants, the 46-year-old father and his 15-year-old son, arrived, and the minor asked the victim if he was Jewish. When he answered in the affirmative, the son hit the victim in the face and broke his eyeglasses. In response, the neighbor tried To push the boy away, the two fell to the ground while the minor continued to punch the victim in the face. Later, his father joined in and began kicking and punching the complainant. As a result of their actions, the complainant was bruised and suffered a fractured right ankle that required medical intervention, including splinting the area.
According to the indictment, immediately upon receiving the report about the incident of violence as mentioned above, police forces arrived at the scene and asked to detain the young defendant for his actions, while he continues to threaten the police officers that he will hurt them as well, and this while his father is holding the police officer and trying to thwart the actions of the law enforcement officers at the scene But to no avail and the two were taken to the police station in Beit Shemesh for questioning.
As part of the investigation, the arrest of the two was extended for several days and later the court ordered restrictive conditions until the investigation work on their case is completed.
The officer of the Investigations and Intelligence Division at the Beit Shemesh station, Corporal Aviad Belmas, stated that “this is a serious violent incident during which the accused, together and individually, attacked a citizen while inflicting actual physical injuries on him and if that was not enough, they continued to threaten him and the police officers who arrived at the scene following the incident. The Israel Police will take a hard hand against those involved in violent incidents in general and against police officers in particular, will bring justice to the perpetrators to the end and will work to preserve the safety of the public while allowing the existence of protest and the freedom to demonstrate legally.”
Attorneys Itai Cohen Shlomo Hadad, who represent the defendants, said: “Today, a request was made against our firm’s clients for detention until the end of the proceedings and the indictment. We are at the beginning of the proceedings, after the investigation material is photographed and studied, we will respond accordingly in court. It will be mentioned that the two were released to their homes a week ago after the prosecutor’s statement And after an appeal was filed by the investigative unit to the district court. Their main claim all along is that in this case the parties were reversed – so that the complainant is the one who attacked the minor and other minors who were there, while the father tried to separate the parties.”