Six against one — and kicks to the head: the severe assault in Eilat

"We are dealing with a serious incident in which the victim was attacked upon leaving a convenience store by six suspects, when one of them even entered his vehicle and all involved beat him mercilessly, with kicks and punches, even when he was lying on the ground, and in the video, a woman is seen trying to distance the attackers from the victim, again and again, and they persist, beating the victim mercilessly."

In these words, Eilat Magistrate's Court Judge Roi Peri described an incident that occurred last week, in which a man who entered a store named "Hakol Dvash" in Eilat, a 24-hour supermarket, was attacked after parking his car in the parking lot opposite the business. A teenager about 15 years old entered the car before the man left the store and drove it a short distance.

A security camera located at the site captured the cruel incident that developed around 04:30 in the morning, in which the six were involved. The man expressed anger at the teenager who was sitting inside his car. The other five approached him as one of them took a mobile phone from his pocket and began filming the incident. The teenager got out of the car and together Emmanuel Gabay (21), Iskander Tarzi (18), Ibrahim Hamdan (22), Alim Tarzi (20) and another teenager began to beat the man with force. They knocked him to the ground, kicked him and beat him with punches, while a woman who was at the scene tried to distance them, but they continued their actions.

The six attackers were arrested shortly after and taken for questioning. They tried to present different versions of the event. One of them claimed that the man was intoxicated and tried to run over a woman and a baby with his car. Another claimed that the man threw a drink can at him, that he drove recklessly and endangered the family members of one of the suspects, and other claims. All claims were rejected and were found, as far as is known, to be incorrect, given the security camera video that reflected the entire occurrence.

During a detention extension hearing held over the weekend, the attorneys for the four tried to crack the police version. Attorney Kobi Balban from the Public Defender's Office asked to clarify if these were "circles of assault," something that could reduce the responsibility of some of the attackers. The police detention representative, Chief Sergeant Moshe Nissim, clarified unequivocally: "Everyone is in the central circle. Everyone beat him mercilessly. No one stood on the side and watched, including kicks to the victim's head while he was lying on the ground." He added that even a claim raised by one of the six that he tried to run someone over turned out to be a complete lie.

Attorney Ella Neta Weinbrand, who represents Iskander Tarzi, asked to clarify what injuries were caused to the beaten man. "Mainly head injuries," said Chief Sergeant Nissim. When the attorney asked to know if there was prior acquaintance between the beaten man and the suspects, the representative answered: "No. This only intensifies the danger and it could have been any one of us and we would have received the same treatment."

Attorney Alon Birnbaum, who represents Alim Tarzi, also tried to understand his part in the violent assault: "The media (a department in the investigation division) showed him that he is hitting. I am placing him today at the heart of the event together with the others in kicks and blows, a very bad event."

Later in the hearing, the attorneys for the four asked the Eilat Magistrate's Court not to extend their detention for eight days as the police requested. Regarding Gabay, the request was justified by the fact that he is a young father to a 7-month-old toddler. Attorney Neta Weinbrand argued that the very fact that there are multiple participants does not mean that one should "drag feet," as she put it. Attorney Yael Darby, who represents Ibrahim Hamdan, asked to clarify if he took an active part in the assault or stood on the side. This is despite the fact that according to the police representative, everyone had a part in the violent assault: "I learned from him different things than what the detention representative claimed here regarding his part in the event," she said. "I will ask to examine whether he had an active part or stood on the side and did not touch and did not approach. On the contrary, he tried to protect and take aside the woman and the child who were there and I was surprised to hear that they were not there."

She also asked that if there is a need to keep him in detention, he be transferred to house arrest at his family's home in Jerusalem. Attorney Birnbaum argued that he understood that the man he represents, Alim Tarzi, is not identified with certainty in the video and he finds it difficult to understand the event: "I did not hear a motive," he said, "they do not walk down the street and beat for no reason."

The court judge, Roi Peri, addressed the totality of things in his decision. He extended the detention of the four suspects in the assault by 4 days and asked the police to finish the investigation by then or at least submit a prosecutor's statement on the intention to file indictments against them. He also asked to check again the claim regarding the attempted run-over that the victim allegedly committed before he was brutally beaten. Peri further noted that there is room to cast doubt on the allegedly tight version presented by the detention representative and that one should not set stakes on this matter: "Things do not look on the video as the police representative presented to me," he said, "after I heard the arguments of the parties with great attention, I reviewed the investigation file, watched previous court decisions, watched the video and additional documents, I am satisfied that there is a reasonable suspicion against the suspects regarding what is attributed to them, as well as grounds for detention due to danger."

According to him, maintaining the right to silence as two of the suspects chose, strengthens the police version and intensifies the grounds for danger in their case: "I expect the investigating unit to convene and finish the investigation by the end of the detention period, at least with a prosecutor's statement, or another request as the case may be and the progress of the investigation."