2 Israel Prisons Service Employees Face Disciplinary Hearing in Beating of Eritrean Man
Members of the Eritrean community light candles in Tel Aviv to commemorate the killing of Habtom Zarhum. Image by Getty Images
Two Israel Prisons Service employees who have been charged in the beating of an Eritrean man mistaken for a terrorist will face a disciplinary hearing.
The workers, who have been suspended from their jobs, could lose their jobs at the hearing on Thursday. Inspector Ronen Cohen and an unnamed guard were among four men arrested and charged with aggravated assault after being identified on surveillance footage.
Haftom Zarhum, 29, was shot dead during an attack on Oct. 18 by an Arab man at the city’s central bus station. The autopsy found that Zarhum died of gunshot wounds and not the beating by bystanders who thought he was an assailant.
A statement posted on the Israel Police website said the attack on the downed man was a “very grave” incident and that it would “not allow citizens to take the law into their own hands.” The police statement also called on citizens to “act with restraint and extra caution and to allow the police to perform their job.”
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