The "Female Prison Guards Case": The State Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment today (Tuesday) against the security prisoner for offenses of rape and indecent acts. Two additional indictments were filed against the warden of Gilboa Prison and the prison’s intelligence officer for breach of trust offenses. According to the indictment, security prisoner Mahmoud Attala is charged with a series of rape and violent indecent acts committed between 2015 and 2016 against two female soldiers who served as prison guards in the Israel Prison Service.
As a reminder, in November 2017, following a complaint by a guard at Gilboa Prison, Attala was investigated for indecent acts against her and two other guards between 2016 and 2017. At the end of the investigation, the prosecution believed there was insufficient evidence to charge the prison service personnel who held command positions at Gilboa Prison, leading to the closure of the case against them. However, in 2020, the prosecution filed an indictment at the Nazareth Magistrates' Court against Attala for sexual offenses against three prison guards, with this case still ongoing in court and not yet resolved.
Following an appeal by the three guards against the decision to close the case, and testimony by the then-warden of Gilboa Prison, Brigadier General Freddy Ben-Sheetrit, before the government’s inquiry committee into the Gilboa Prison escape, State Attorney Amit Isman ordered a reexamination of all aspects of the case in December 2021.
As a result, it was decided to file an indictment against Attala, the intelligence officer, and the warden of Gilboa Prison. This is the second indictment against Attala in this case. Attala is currently serving a life sentence plus 15 years for the murder of a Palestinian woman suspected of collaborating with Israel. The intelligence officer and the warden are charged with breach of trust and failure to report.
According to the indictment filed today against Kashkush and Bashah, in 2017, two guards complained to the two defendants about Attala’s sexual acts toward them in the prison facility. The defendants failed to report these acts and did nothing to prevent further sexual harm to young female guards serving in the prison’s security wing. Later, after the two guards complained to the accused Bashah, Attala requested that Bashah assign a specific female guard to his wing.
The prison’s intelligence officer granted Attala’s request and ordered the placement of this guard in Attala’s wing. According to the indictment, this created a risk of sexual harm to the guard during the shift.