Yosef Salamsa
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Cops duck indictment over death of Ethiopian suspect
Family of Yosef Salamsa, who in July 2014 police deduced committed suicide following abuse by cops using a taser gun, decry AG decision to quash probe after citing insufficient evidence.
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced Sunday evening his rejection of the appeal made by the family of Yosef Salamsa against the decision made by the Police Investigation Unit (PIU) not to indict the cops they claim abused him before he took his own life in July 2014.
The PIU decision cited insufficient evidence to indict the two officers who arrested and interrogated Salamsa.
Mandelblit met with Salamsa's parents, brother and attorney in his Jerusalem offices when he informed them of his decision.
The Attorney General did state, however, he would consider it appropriate for certain issues arising from the handling of the case to be examined by the Chief of Police on the systemic and command levels.
.jpg "Yosef Salamsa (Photo: Facebook)")
Yosef Salamsa
Mandelblit also shared his deepest condolences with the family's grief at the passing of Salamsa.
"On the command level, it would be appropriate to address what seems to be an alleged false report regarding issuing a warning before utilizing a taser device. The cops' account is not supported by the investigative materials, nor does it match the testimony of eye witnesses to the incident," Mandelblit's decision read.
The Israel Police responded to the assertion made by Mandelblit. "The Attorney General's overtures regarding considering a command change pertained to a specific detail regarding the officers warning Salamsa before using a taser, a claim not supported by a recording. It should be noted protocol does not necessitate a warning before the use of such a device," the police statement read.
Furthermore, it continued, "the officer who utilized the taser has not been with the police for the past two and a half years, long before any recommendations were made regarding his status."
Attorneys Dror Matityahu and Dana Shul, representing the Salamsa family, also commented on the Attorney General's decision. "Three and a half years after Yosef Salamsa's violent arrest, the Attorney General informed us he has decided to acknowledge a sizeable portion of our grievances regarding the conduct of the officers involved in his arrest, and to demand the police commissioner draw command conclusions regarding their continued employment," the attorneys said.
"The Attorney General's decision sends a clear, unequivocal message to Israeli police officers, the Ethiopian community and the entire Israeli general public: unjustified police brutality visited upon the Ethiopian community will not be left without response and cops-turned-bad will pay a heavy price for their actions," Matityahu and Shul's response said.
Salamsa's death became a symbolic focal point in the struggle waged by Israeli Ethiopians against what they claim to be police brutality, and in a large number of demonstrations signs bearing the inscription "We are all Yosef Salamsa" were spotted.
Salamsa was arrested in the beginning of 2014 and suspected of burglary. He later claimed to have been subjected to severe violence at the hands of the arresting officers, including the use of a taser gun on him, which led to his hospitalization.
His father testified during the inquiry into the affair that he'd found his son strewn, injured on the ground alone outside the police station, and that a significant amount of time had elapsed before police called Magen David Adom to evacuated him to a hospital, with no officer accompanying him there.
Salamsa family
Salamsa lodged the initial complaint with the PIU but it was never handled. According to his relatives, the separtment ignored it altogether. The department itself claimed the case was closed due to lack of cooperation on the part of the complainant.
Salamsa's body was found in a Binyamina quarry in July 2014. The investigation turned up no suspicion of foul play and police deduced that he'd taken his own life. His family, however, rejected categorically rejected the conclusion and demanded the investigation be reopened.
The family even presented police with medical records from the hospital showing Salamsa was electrocuted in his abdomen and suffered a contusion to one of his hands.
The new investigation found severe deficiencies in the officers' handling of the incident, such as lying and filling out a false report saying they had cautioned Salamsa before tasering him. The investigation also found an ambulance was called for him 35 minutes after the incident.
The PIU stated however, that none of these deficiencies stepped over the threshold of criminality and the findings were thus forwarded to the police's disciplinary tribunal, where no steps were taken against the officers.
