Magistrate Court

Translation: Marganit W.

Jerusalem Magistrate Court 

Judge: Gad Arenberg

Prosecutor: Nadal Shafik Taher Shtiya

Defendant: The State of Israel

Pleading for the prosecution: Atty. Eitay Mack

Pleading for the defendant: Atty. Moshe Willinger

On the desk of the Prosecution representative stands a broken camera covered with sand.

Here is a description of the case that  Atty. Itay Mack sent us by mai:

Nadal Shtiya, a freelance photojournalist recorded a group of settlers who had come to till the Palestinian lands belonging to the village of Salem (in Nablus area). Soldiers attacked him, detained him and brutally confiscated two cameras and equipment bag. For 18 days the police and DCL denied the existence of the cameras, then miraculously, the cameras surfaced and Nadal was summoned to the police to retrieve them. To his chagrin, he found that both cameras were broken, covered with sand, with no batteries or memory card (the bag was not returned to him). In addition to the irreversible damage to the cameras, Nadal lost income and suffered much mental distress.

Court’s decision: Within ten days, the prosecution representative will notify the court if the defendant accepts the court’s offer, and the prosecution’s representative will submit itemized expenses.

Judge: The compensation should be between 20,000-40,000 shekels.

On the prosecutor’s desk only a mound of sand was left.