The activist beaten by a police officer on the witness stand: “The culture of lying is rooted”

A statement was made in a Haifa Magistrate’s Court in response to defense attorneys Lior Binyamin and Attorney Sami Ilia representing the policeman, when, in a cross-examination, they asked him if a police officer who testified in a previous hearing – lied. “When a station commander goes to visit a suspect in a home investigation and knows he is supposed to testify in court, and I guess he didn’t talk about the weather, that means we have a problem in Haifa. Me and you. When a police officer shoots a civilian, it’s not just a Jaafar flower problem,” he said. He added, “This is a serious problem. You do not have to wait for the DIP, but the officers will take care as it happens. There is no need to wait for this court. Police were likely to investigate what happened that evening and draw conclusions. ”

The State Police Department’s Investigation Department (DIP) filed the indictment in June last year. Signed, a 34-year-old Haifa station patrol officer charged with serious injury and assault following the demonstration. And he has been on forced leave since the incident. In addition to the flower, he is charged with assaulting seven other protesters, including Jaafar Flower’s son, Bisan, who was taken to the police station after the demonstration.

Almost two years, Flower was waiting for that moment, where he would step up to the witness stand and be able to flip his version before a judge. Justice Shlomo Banjo was the one who eventually led his investigation and asked most of the questions, when the DIP prosecutor, Natalie Hagai, added from time to time. Banjo led Flower to describe the sequence of events, which he gave in a regular and detailed manner. That he was excited to recreate the events of that Saturday night of May 18, 2018.

At one point, he was particularly moved: it was when he described how he was brought into the Haifa detention room, and among the “dumped” men, as he put it, on the floor he recognized his son as he was bleeding from his face, and his nephew with blood soaked in his clothes. He kissed, wiped away a tear, and turned to the father of Officer Lior Hatam, who was sitting in the courtroom, and told him: “I do not wish you to find your son that way.”

The appeal sparked outrage on the part of the policeman signed by his father. The judge calmed down the spirits, demanding that the court guard remove the film that he had divided between “signed and his associates” and “Jaffar Flower associates.” This included the judge throughout the day to reduce the tension in the courtroom, where most of the attendees came to express solidarity with a flower, including MK Osama Saadi from the joint list.

“This is my truth”

In his testimony, Flower reiterated that protesters did not attack police officers, but police officers attacked the protesters. He said the attitude of the police towards them, towards the detainees and towards him was degrading. He again said that he was not one of the organizers of the rally in question and, when he arrived, did not even know who organized it. “In the media, you see Hanin Zoabi and MK Jamal Zahalka. “I was not a Knesset member, just a director of the Arab civil rights organization,” Farah said. “Obviously there were more senior people and leaders than me, people who are Knesset members. They have voters. He did not, and I still have no voters, nor will I have. “He repeated that he was late, after arrests had already been made.” Those who organize a demonstration do not come after arrests, “he wanted to emphasize.

On cross-examination, defense attorneys sought to tattoo a version of a flower. “Your whole version of the case you came to, you checked, yes you didn’t know, you wanted to go home. It’s all a lie,” said attorney Lior Benjamin who was investigating. Jafar Farah replied: “You should say that. I have no expectations of you being decent, I hope you will give a fair treatment to your client’s victim, and don’t call me a liar. “He added:” I don’t see a reason to call me a liar. I told what happened. I ask for court protection. That’s my truth. ”

Flower described the kick in question and its consequences. “The blood was inside the leg, all the time the leg swelled … You start to feel pain, but slowly, you feel the foot swell all the time,” he repeated. “It’s a kick from a shoe. And everything goes fast. Say what a shoe it was? I don’t remember. There are things you remember, but remember which shoe you got the blow on … Everything was fast. You get hit, fold you and then get up, everything goes in less than 30 seconds. “.

The May 19, 2018 violence events began during an unauthorized rally on Natanzon Street near Paris Square in downtown Haifa. During the dispersal efforts, 21 protesters were transported to the station, where they were taken to a waiting room. While transporting two detainees, one of them – Bisan Farah, the son of Jafar Farah, the car was hit by a car accident, Flower’s son was beaten in the face and blood ran from his forehead. Nevertheless, they were brought to the station without being taken to medical care.

To date, no charges have been filed against any of the protesters in the same demonstration. The cross-examination will continue next Sunday and is also expected to continue at another hearing.