Court: No jail for soldier convicted of assault

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3861210,00.html

Military court rules former Kfir Brigade deputy commander sufficiently punished during detention, decides not to demote or imprison him for beating Palestinians

Lieutenant Adam Malul, former deputy company commander of the Kfir Brigade, who was convicted of assaulting a number of Palestinian detainees, will not be demoted or imprisoned for a further period.

The military court ruled that the 64 days Malul had been in detention and the 32 days under house arrest were sufficient punishment. His mother, Ruthi, burst into tears upon hearing the ruling.

The judges noted that though Malul's behavior was unacceptable, and despite the breakdown of command, the fact that the violence was not extreme should be taken into account. It should also be remembered, they said, that he had contributed five years of his life to the IDF.



At the end of September 2008, during a patrol, soldiers in a military vehicle arrested a group of Palestinians. According to the indictment filed by prosecution, the patrol's medic butted one of the Palestinians with this helmet, kneed him in the stomach and ripped his shirt, while the company commander did nothing to stop him. The medic also beat another Palestinian, and pushed a third Palestinian who questioned what was going on.

Later, the commander instructed the soldiers to search some Palestinians, and hit one of them. The medic pushed one against a wall, choked him, kicked him and hit him on the head. According to the indictment, the two soldiers continued to search the Palestinians aggressively, slapping their face and neck and shaking them.