Punishing to silence

LAST week the State Prosecution proved it has been enlisted in the regime’s battle against those who criticise the government. Last Wednesday the prosecution asked the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court to sentence activist and lawyer Barak Cohen, leader of the anti-banking group Ba’im Labanka’im, to a year in prison and a fine after he was convicted in June of insulting a public servant and obstructing a policeman in the course of his duty.

According to the prosecution, Cohen must serve a year in prison because the intelligence co-ordinator at Moriah police station, Alon Hamdani, was offended by comments Cohen posted on Facebook, particularly a video in June 2014, in which Cohen sang a song comparing him to “a green-eyed snake”.

Prosecutors say that it wasn’t just a song, but a series of posts condemning Hamdani.

Cohen argued that they were a response to Hamdani’s invalid methods used against activists, but his claims were rejected by Judge Dana Amir, who ruled that posts constituted a “campaign of insults”.

But for the prosecution it wasn’t enough that Cohen was convicted. It wants to send a message to anyone who would dare criticise the government.

The lawyer asked the court to sentence him to the sternest possible punishment.

It would behove the court to impose a symbolic punishment on Cohen, one that will clearly convey that although the offence of insulting a public servant is indeed on the books, the prosecution shouldn’t exploit it.