A 17-year-old Israeli boy, whose family moved to Romania
several years ago, was arrested on suspicion of murdering his father, a former
Border Guard officer, by bludgeoning him with a hammer.
The incident took place
a month ago, but was publicized only now.
A Romanian police investigation has revealed that recently
the mother had approached the offices of the Jewish community in Bucharest and
reported that her husband beat her eldest son. The community representative
advised her to make a complaint with the police, but for an unknown reason, she
did not.
The victim, a man in his 50s, was once a policeman in the
Border Guard, but had been injured when a brick was thrown at him during the
evacuation of an illegal outpost. He had been recognized as disabled, and
subsequently left the service.
Following his injury, he moved his family to Bucharest. The
parents had Romanian citizenship, and the father made a living by doing odd
jobs, including as a tour guide.
At the end of April, a dispute developed between the father
and son, when only two of them were in the apartment. The boy claims that
during this argument, his father hit him again. The boy allegedly attacked his
father with a hammer in the bedroom. The father escaped to the living room, and
the son followed him and continued hitting him.
The father was critically injured and was taken to hospital,
where he died four days later. Two weeks ago, his body was flown to Israel, and
he was buried in Haifa.
The boy claimed during his interrogation that his father
used to beat him regularly.
His mother confirmed this to police. However,
Romanian police found no signs of trauma on the boy, and they are still
investigating whether the boy hit him due to the dispute in question, or had
attacked him due to abuse in the past.
The boy remains incarcerated and the investigation
continues. He is being represented by a local lawyer. The boy's mother and
brother are still in Romania at this time.
Attorney Mordechai Tzivin, who specializes in cases of
Israelis arrested abroad said, "This is a case with some mystery. There
are many factual doubts impeding the police investigation." According to
him, in Romania the claim that a parent abused a child is not acceptable in
most cases.
This means that even if the son claims he attacked his
father because his father abused him, he is likely to find himself accused of
murder, and not manslaughter or a more minor offense. Tzivin said, however,
that they are checking into the possibility that the boy is not fit to stand
trial and is not responsible for his actions.
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