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Israeli Soldiers Who Tortured Palestinian Teens Receive Light Sentence, No Demot

Zionist Extremism Greatest Threat to Peace | 05.06.2008 15:30 | Anti-racism | World

The IDF court obviously couldn't bring itself to mete out a harsher sentence, because this is what their soldiers do all the time when it comes to Palestinians- and worse.

What happened is that this case became public knowledge, so they had to do at least a little something to these men.



Israeli soldiers who beat, tortured Palestinian teens receive light sentence, no demotion
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC

June 03, 2008 04:05author by News

An Israeli military court ruled Tuesday that three Israeli soldiers who beat, humiliated and attached electrodes to the faces of two 17-year old Palestinian detainees would not be demoted to the rank of private.

The two will receive a sentence of 5 months in jail, and will retain their army rank of staff sergeant when they are released.

The judge's ruling stated, "The humiliation of helpless minors… is an ugly act which badly harms not only the immediate victims of the offense, but the army's moral strength as well." But the judge ruled against a demotion of the three soldiers, stating, "such a heavy punishment does not reflect the many rights accumulated by the three during their service." The ruling went against an agreement made between the military prosecution and the soldiers' attorney that the soldiers would accept a demotion in exchange for a lighter sentence. In violation of that agreement, the judge ruled to allow both the light sentence and no demotion.

The incident in question took place in the settlement of Shavei Shomron in the occupied West Bank. The soldiers took two teenagers who were blindfolded and handcuffed, and beat them, forced them to say phrases in Hebrew, and attached a heating electrode to the face of one of the youth.

A fellow soldier who witnessed the incident reported the three soldiers to a superior. The three soldiers then bullied their colleague to try to get her not to testify about what she saw. At first, she succumbed to the bullying, but eventually, she told the commander the full version of what happened.

The three soldiers will return to the field after serving their terms, and will be in command of other soldiers charged with attacking and detaining Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

www.imemc.org/article/55262

Israel shaken by troops' tales of brutality against Palestinians
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/10/384371.html

Zionist Extremism Greatest Threat to Peace