Six police officers were interrogated Tuesday, and some were suspended from their police stations for a few days, as the investigation of the etching of a Star of David on the face of an Arab detainee from East Jerusalem continues, according to an official involved in the investigation of the symbol discovered on the face of Arwah Sheikh Ali and first reported on Ynetnews.
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Some of the same police officers who were questioned Tuesday have been questioned in the past. More police officers will be called for questioning in the coming days, the official said.
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Police claimed that the mark resembling a Star of David found on the prisoner's face was caused by one of the policemen's shoelaces
(Photo: Israel Police spokesman )
After the affair was revealed, the police claimed that the damage was caused by one of the policemen's shoelaces, saying that the detainee became violent and it was necessary to use force against him.
In their original announcement of the arrest, the police did not report that he resisted violently, nor that force was necessary to subdue him.
Sheikh Ali, a resident of the Shuafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem, filed a complaint with the Department of Police Investigations last month, which said: "They handcuffed me by the hands and feet and covered my eyes before making a mark on my cheek. A policeman applied a taser to my head, I felt something hot on my face. It's not the police - it's the mafia."
Ynet previously revealed that 16 police officers were present at the arrest - but none of them had their body cameras working. Sheikh Ali was suspected of drug trafficking, and was released from custody a few days later.