The Ramle Small Claims Court on Thursday ruled that a prison commander should pay compensations for assaulting an underage inmate detained for participating in anti-disengagement rioting.

Under the precedent-setting ruling, Brigadier General Rami Ovadia commander of Ma'asiyahu Prison, will pay NIS 15,000 in compensation and NIS 2,000 to cover the complainant's legal expenses.

The complainant, who was underage at the time of his arrest, was taken into custody in June 2005 for blocking roads as part of protests against the disengagement from the Gaza Strip.

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He is currently serving in the Israel Defense Forces.

As detainee, the complainant refused to rise upon the entry of the guard officer to his cell, and insisted to do so also when Ovadia entered the cell accompanied by the prison's security officer.

The complainant said that the prison commander then forced him to stand up by pulling him up by the shirt. Ovadia then slapped him, punched him in the face and also kicked him in the testicles, the complainant said.

The judge ruled in favor of the complainant after finding numerous contradictions between Ovadia's account of events and a report by Israel Prison Service inmate complaints officer at the Central District Ariyeh Zelig.

Defense witnesses also gave contradicting testimonies, the judge said, which led him to rule in favor of the complainant.