ISRAEL'S often criticised military justice system was dealt a sharp blow yesterday as the country's supreme court struck down minor charges against an officer for the shooting in the foot of a bound Palestinian.
In an extremely rare intervention in the military justice system, the court ruled that a decision last year to indict Colonel Omri Bromberg and an unidentified sergeant under his command only for "inappropriate conduct" was "extremely unreasonable
".
One justice, Ayala Procaccia, termed the actions of the two "a cruel and grave crime" that requires "appropriate punishment". She wrote that it went against the values of the army and of Israel as a "Jewish and democratic" state. The judges did not specify what new charges should be brought.
During the incident in the West Bank's Ni'lin village last August, Colonel Bromberg was captured on film with his hand gripping bound and blindfolded Palestinian Ashraf Abu Rahma while the sergeant fired a rubber-coated metal bullet into the detained man's foot. Mr Abu Rahma later testified that he had earlier carried a Palestinian flag during a demonstration against the seizure of land for the construction of Israel's West Bank separation barrier.
"He was a non-violent protester who did nothing wrong, he wasn't charged for anything or even arrested and he was shot in the foot," said Sarit Michaeli, of the Israeli human rights group B'tselem.
