The court sentenced Alaa Qaswani, a resident of East Jerusalem, who filmed and posted two humiliating and degrading videos on TikTok. In one, he filmed himself pinching Haredi's ear, and in the second video, the defendant identified himself as a policeman to a young man with disabilities and asked to arrest him.
The prosecution asked for five months in prison, but the judge decided to sentence him to six months of community service, a fine and compensation of NIS 12,<> to the two complainants together. Kaswani was convicted of publishing a degrading and degrading photograph, threatening and posing as a public official.
Posted derogatory TikTok videos against a disabled young man sentenced to half a year of community service \\ Credit: The use is made in accordance with section 27A of the Copyright Law
In one case, he entered a pharmacy at the Bar-Ilan junction and snatched the prescription from the complainant, a man waiting in line with whom he was unfamiliar, and left the pharmacy. At this point, complainant S. chased after the defendant and the latter put himself as if he were tearing up the prescription and laughed. Thereafter, the defendant returned the prescription to complainant S.
The defendant was also convicted of the fact that shortly thereafter, in line at the pharmacy, the defendant pinched the ear of complainant S. while filming his actions on his mobile phone and quickly uploaded the video to his TikTok account.
Another, and even more serious incident in which the defendant was convicted, occurred immediately shortly thereafter and in relation to a person with a disability. A short distance from the pharmacy, the defendant noticed a young man waiting at a bus stop holding a can of soft drink. The complainant, 26 years old, has a disability and requires supervision and assistance in daily functioning. When the defendant realized this, he decided to film a video, the purpose of which was to tease, humiliate and ridicule the complainant M. because of his disability, and post it on TikTok. Qaswani identified himself as a policeman and asked him to accompany him for interrogation at the Russian Compound, including a demand that the frightened complainant M. reach out for handcuffs.
"A judge decided to sentence him to six months of community service", illustration, photo: Herzi Shapira
After the publication of the video, which included footage of complainant M., reached the media and caused public outrage, the defendant decided to delete the video documenting his actions towards complainant M from his TikTok account. The defendant later deleted the entire TikTok account.
The defendant claimed that his actions were done out of a prank, but the judge rejected this argument as well as the defendant's claim that he stopped his actions as soon as he realized that the complainant was a "limited and poor person." "There can be no real dispute that the defendant photographed and published the complainants M. and S. for the purpose of intimidation, laughter and ridicule. However, the circumstance does not indicate that the acts were done out of a prank in order to make things easier for the defendant, but on the contrary," wrote Judge Elazar Bialin, adding: "It is particularly serious that the defendant believed that filming a video and the exchange with complainant M., in the circumstances of this complainant, were an entertaining and mischievous prank. It should be noted that one of the purposes of this offense is to prevent the publication of a photograph, the product and result of a prank. This should be understood this way when every child, teenager and adult has a photographic device and is connected to endless public advertising networks. The documentation released by the defendant is shocking and embodies an incomprehensible evil towards the weak person."
"Post humiliating and derogatory videos on TikTok," Photo: Reuters
The complainant, who was humiliated by the defendant at the pharmacy, recounted the difficulties he experienced from that day and described his difficult feelings. He noted that since the incident occurred, he had experienced damage both on the mental level, according to which he experienced fears and depressions, and on the financial level, according to which he had to undergo psychological treatment for more than 10 sessions, and added that the incident caused him great shame in front of his friends and even in front of his wife, who, after watching the video that was published, mocked him, saying, "My friends laughed at me because of this and told me that you are not a man and not successful, and it caused me harm with society and especially with my wife. He also noted that the injury he suffered even brought to light a similar incident he had experienced in the past.
The judge noted in sentencing that the existing case law regarding the offense of invasion of privacy is not sufficiently stringent, especially when it reflects harm to a disabled person, and is not similar to other cases discussed in the ruling. "The matter of this case requires protection of the weak. There is no dispute that the degrading and degrading behaviour towards complainant M was only due to the fact that the accused noticed the disability of complainant M.
The public interest requires broad protection for the weak and disadvantaged in society. The public interest requires condemning the actions of the accused and sending a clear and unequivocal message. Humiliating behavior towards the weak and handicapped not only does not pay off, but also entails real punishment," Judge Bialin concluded.
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