An Israeli court has ordered the Palestinian Authority to pay NIS 3.34 million to a Palestinian man who was imprisoned for nearly five years and subjected to severe abuse after being accused of attempting to sell family-owned land to a Jew, according to a Channel 14 report.
The ruling was handed down by Yerushalayim District Court Judge Chaya Zandberg following a lawsuit filed by a resident of the village of Samu through attorney Barak Kedem. According to the report, the plaintiff had sought to sell property belonging to his family to a resident of the Jewish community of Shima.
In February 2014, the man was arrested by the Palestinian Authority’s Preventive Security Service. Approximately three months later, he was indicted for attempting to “transfer part of the Palestinian territories for the benefit of the enemy.” A Chevron court convicted him in 2016 and sentenced him to five years in prison with hard labor, along with a fine. His appeal to an appeals court in Ramallah was rejected, and he remained incarcerated until February 2019.
The Yerushalayim District Court, however, determined that his arrest and imprisonment had been unlawful. The judge ruled that an Israeli court cannot recognize the sale of land to Israelis as “treason” merely because the prospective purchasers are Israeli.
The proceedings also brought to light the plaintiff’s allegations of severe physical abuse while being held in Palestinian Authority facilities. He testified that during interrogations, his hands and feet were shackled to an iron chair for hours at a time, that he was placed in solitary confinement, and that he was beaten with sticks and other objects while his head was covered.
The plaintiff further alleged that during the winter he was left outdoors and doused with cold water, while being deprived of food, sleep and basic necessities. According to his account, the abuse continued after he was transferred to the Dahariya prison, where he was placed in a cell known as the “Sharon Cell,” which was reportedly used to hold prisoners suspected of collaborating with Israel or selling land to Jews.
Additional testimony presented during the case supported his allegations. One prisoner who had been incarcerated with the plaintiff testified that he witnessed him being beaten with hands and clubs and then placed in solitary confinement. Another witness said he saw guards step on the plaintiff’s head and strike him in the stomach and back with clubs while his hands were restrained behind him.
The court was also presented with a medical document from December 2014 documenting scratches on the plaintiff’s back, an injury to one of his fingers and complaints of pain. Based on the evidence, the court ultimately found that the Palestinian Authority had subjected him to “actual violence” and committed the civil tort of assault against him.
At the conclusion of the proceedings, the Palestinian Authority was ordered to pay the plaintiff NIS 3.34 million, including attorneys’ fees. According to Channel 14, the compensation will be transferred through a tax-collection mechanism similar to the system used to provide compensation to victims of terrorist attacks.
{Matzav.com}
