The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court accepted a civil lawsuit filed by a Chareidi man against the police, slamming the police for the plaintiff’s wrongful arrest and baseless and prolonged legal proceedings that ultimately ended in his full acquittal.

The court ruled that the Chareidi man, represented by Attorney Barak Kedem, is entitled to significant compensation and awarded him a total of NIS 414,000.

The case dates back to December 2013, during a protest in Jerusalem against the conscription of bnei yeshivos. The plaintiff, then an 18-year-old who had recently made aliyah from Australia, was arrested on suspicion of throwing a stone at security forces. In the arrest report and his testimony, Officer D. claimed he saw the plaintiff commit the offense, maintained continuous visual contact, ran toward him, and subdued him together with another officer.

However, this version collapsed in light of a series of photos and video footage presented by the Chareidi man’s legal team. The footage clearly showed that the officer was standing at a significant distance from the plaintiff at the moment of the arrest, was looking in another direction, and the arrest was actually carried out by entirely different officers who were not mentioned in the report. In addition, the officers’ claims of a “chase” and “violent resistance” did not match the visual evidence from the scene.

The ruling determined that the officers were at the very least negligent in filing the arrest reports and in their official statements, which did not reflect the facts. The judge emphasized that these reports form a crucial basis for the prosecution’s decision to file an indictment, and therefore, the substantial discrepancies cannot be taken lightly.

The arrest and the prolonged criminal proceedings left the young man with deep psychological scars. A court-appointed expert determined that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), resulting in a permanent disability of 10%.

The court awarded compensation for non‑monetary damages (pain and suffering), as well as lost wages and medical expenses. In total, the police were ordered to pay him NIS 328,605, and the state was ordered to cover attorney’s fees amounting to 23.4% (about NIS 77,000), along with reimbursement for professional and court costs.

Attorney Kedem stated: “The over-enforcement by the police against Chareidi protests, compared to other demonstrations, was starkly evident in this unfortunate case. I am pleased that the court recognized the severity of the officers’ actions and awarded appropriate compensation to the victim.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)