November 16, 2010

Press release – for immediate release

Court convicts settler for kidnapping, assault of Palestinian youth

Jerusalem District Court Justice Amnon Cohen convicted a settler in three

counts of assault, battery under aggravated circumstances, kidnapping for the
purpose of causing grave bodily injury, and one count of animal abuse.

The convictions followed a grave incident that took place on July 24th, 2007 –
one of the most severe cases ever handled by Human Rights group Yesh Din
– the kidnap and assault of a Palestinian 15 year old boy of the West Bank
village of Kusra. The boy was kidnapped by two assaulters near the Esh
Kodesh outpost. The two offenders battered him, and left him naked,
wounded, and bound in an open field.

Following a police investigation, one of the suspects was apprehended and

indicted. The defendant, Zvi Struk, resident of the settlement of Shilo, was
charged with battery under aggravated circumstances and kidnapping for the
purpose of causing grave bodily injury – felonies that bear the maximum
penalty of 20 years imprisonment. His trial opened in the Jerusalem District
Court on February 2009.

Human Rights group Yesh Din assisted the victim from the day of the
incident, and helped him and his family file a complaint with the Israeli police.
On Sunday (November 14th), Justice Cohen convicted Struk in all charges.
Struk was also convicted of killing a lamb.

According to the indictment, the offenders battered their victim using the
barrel of a rifle, dragged him on the ground, bound his eyes and hands, and
took him to an unknown location. There, he was beaten again, stripped of his
clothes, and left in an open field while he was unconscious and tied. After a
while the victim managed to free himself, and ran to the closest road where he
was picked up by a car.

In his lengthy verdict, Justice Cohen rejects the defense attorney's claim that
his client should be acquitted – and stated that there is sufficient evidence to
convict him of all charges.

"This is a relatively rare case where the investigators and prosectors

succeeded to convict an offender of grave offenses; according to Yesh Din's
data, about 90 percent of complaints filed by Palestinians against Israeli
citizens who harm them and their property end without any indictments.
However, we must remember that Struk's anonymous accomplice managed to
escape unpunished. The law enforcement authorities must learn from this
case", says Yesh Din's director of research, Lior Yavne.

For further information please contact Dana Zimmerman +972-54-245-7682