The Israel Defense Forces officer accused of ordering a soldier under his command to shoot a bound and blindfolded Palestinian detainee has passed a polygraph test verifying his testimony that he did not give the order to open fire.
Lieutenant colonel Omri Fruberg, commanding officer of IDF regiment 71, took the polygraph on Tuesday in a private institute at the recommendation of his lawyers.
The investigation began after the soldier, who was filmed shooting a Palestinian protester during a demonstration in the West Bank village of Na'alin, said he just been carrying out an order by Fruberg. In the video, Fruberg is shown holding the arm of the Palestinian, Ashraf Abu-Rahama, 27, while a soldier under his command opens fire at close range. Abu-Rahama sustained light wounds to his foot in the incident.
Fruberg will undergo a second polygraph test under the auspices of the military police on Wednesday afternoon.
The incident in Na'alin was filmed by a Palestinian girl from a window of her home and sent to military authorities by the Israeli human rights group BT'selem in earlu July.
The soldier was released from police detention on Tuesday and sent back to join his unit after telling investigators that his regiment commander had ordered him to fire.
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