Marking his third appearance as a witness before the commission investigating the death of Pinchas Segalow in a Sabbath disturbance on Sept. 1, Jerusalem police chief Levi Abrahami testified today that the Neturei Karta, ultra-Orthodox sect involved in the riots, understood only a “strong hand.” He charged that this sect alone was responsible for Sabbath disturbances and that the police had the cooperation of all other religious groups in the city.
The Commission also heard an eye-witness to the riot, 18-year-old yeshiva student Haim Rutenberg, who said he saw five policemen approach Mr. Segalow during the riot and one of them, a plainclothesman, struck the demonstrator. Mr. Segalow fell, hitting his was hit by a stone and lost sight of Mr. Segalow until both were in a hospital for treatment.
This was countered by the testimony of Fred Blyman, head of the police unit involved, who said Mr. Segalow spoke to him an hour after the alleged blow was struck and complained that some residents of the area were pouring water on the demonstrators. Another policeman, Eliezer Shiloni, testified that Mr. Segalow collapsed and was taken to a hospital by the police. There, however, he was first refused admittance on the grounds that he bore no evidence of physical injury. He added that Mr. Segalow’s son, a resident of Ramath Gan, told police that his father had complained of back pains as a result of a recent fall from a truck during the bus strike.
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