Israel’s High Court of Justice has upheld six-month prison sentences meted out to two investigators of the Shin Bet domestic security agency who were convicted of negligently causing the death of a Palestinian from the Gaza Strip.
The judgment marks the first time Shin Bet investigators have been sent to prison for mistreatment of Palestinians under detention.
The investigators, who were suspended from their jobs, had appealed their sentences and requested that they be allowed to do community service rather than go to jail.
But Justice Aharon Barak rejected the petition, writing that “only a jail term — not community service – can express Israeli society’s repugnance at their deeds. Only thus can we deter others from doing likewise.
“Society’s message to investigators is unequivocal,” the judge wrote. “An investigation must be conducted within the bounds of law, and if it is not, the response will be meaningful punishment.”
According to the indictment, Shin Bet detained Khaled Sheikh Ali, 27, for questioning as a suspected member of Islamic Jihad and on suspicion of possessing weapons.
During the course of the interrogation in a Gaza jail cell, the two Shin Bet agents beat him severely, causing severe bodily injuries from which he died shortly afterward.
Originally charged with manslaughter, the two Shin Bet operatives confessed in a plea bargain to a reduced charge of causing death by negligence.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
