The Police Internal Investigations Department (PIID) on Tuesday reportedly questioned six of the officers involved in the arrest of a Palestinian from East Jerusalem last month on suspicion that they deleted footage of the altercation during which a Star of David was allegedly branded on the suspect’s face.
While the PIID was already probing all 16 of the arresting officers on suspicion of assault, the six officers probed again on Tuesday could also be looking at an additional charge of obstruction of justice, according to the Kan public broadcaster.
The PIID initially believed that there was no footage from the August 16 arrest of 22-year-old Arwah Sheikh Ali, since all 16 of the officers had their body cameras turned off during the incident.
However, Kan said that investigators recently uncovered footage from the arrest taken from the cell phones of some of the officers and believe that there had been additional footage but that it was deleted from the cellphones and GoPro cameras of a handful of the officers involved.
Ali filed an official complaint to the Justice Ministry’s PIID several days after the arrest, which made headlines over its apparently brutal nature.
“A police officer put a taser to my head. I felt something hot on my face. These are not police — this is the mafia,” Ali, a resident of the Shuafat refugee camp told the Ynet news site after filing the complaint.
Arwah Sheikh Ali, who alleges police branded him with a Star of David as he was being arrested in East Jerusalem’s Shuafat refugee camp, files a complaint at the Justice Ministry’s Police Internal Investigations Department, on August 22, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Ali claimed the officers had covered his eyes and bound his hands and feet before branding his left cheek as they violently arrested him at home for suspected drug trafficking. He also told reporters his wife and kids were present.
Police claim the mark on Ali’s face was caused by the laced-up part of an officer’s boot being pressed against his face while they subdued him.
Responding to the allegations of brutality, police have denied any racial animus for the officers’ actions and accused Sheikh Ali of violently resisting arrest.
Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court Judge Amir Shaked said during one of Ali’s remand hearings that police have “no reasonable explanation” for how the bruises appeared. He also said police have no explanation for why the bodycams were not working on all 16 officers who allegedly participated in the arrest.
A photo released by police on August 19, 2023, shows the boot of a police officer that allegedly caused cut marks on Palestinian detainee’s face. A lawyer for the suspect alleges police branded him with a Star of David. (Israel Police)
Jerusalem District Commander Doron Turgeman has backed the officers involved.
“This is a field trial by the media,” Turgeman said. “This is a wrong attempt to portray the circumstances of the incident in a completely distorted light.”
“The distance between the damage caused to the suspect’s face during the arrest, and the false narrative they’re trying to present, is far from reality,” Turgeman said. “I trust the officers who were there and their credibility.”
