Cops Who Beat Israeli Arab Supermarket Worker Under Criminal Probe

Plainclothes Border Policemen were caught on film beating Maysam Abu Alqian, but claim he attacked them first.

Jun 1, 2016

Maysam Abu Alqian, who was beaten by off-duty Border Police outside the Tel Aviv supermarket where he worked, on Monday.Credit: Eliyahu Hershkovitz

Yaniv Kubovich

Jun 1, 2016

The Border Police officers who assaulted an Israeli Arab supermarket worker in Tel Aviv last week are facing a criminal probe, the police internal investigations unit announced Tuesday.

The unit made the announcement after interrogating five Border Policemen involved in the assault of Maysam Abu Alqianon on suspicion of excessive use of force.

The plainclothes officers approached Abu Alqian, 19, outside the central Tel Aviv Super Yuda branch where he works and asked him to identify himself, saying they thought he was in Israel illegally. When he refused, the men began to beat him and subsequently arrested him for attacking them. However, the following day the Tel Aviv District Court ordered Abu Alqian released to his home under restricted conditions.

The assault on Abu Alqian was recorded by closed circuit security TV. Al Aqian rejected the claim that he had assaulted the officers and said they not only beat him, but called him a "stinking Arab."

The Justice Ministry department said: "Only after the investigation is complete will we be able to reach clear conclusions about the nature of the incident."