Israeli Watch

Even an Israeli serial rapist could not stand the abuse he experienced in Israeli jail.

Captured rapist Benny Sela says he fled because of abuse in jail
By Roni Singer-Heruti, Jack Khoury and Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondents

Serial rapist Benny Sela, whose escape from a Tel Aviv courthouse two weeks ago triggered a nationwide manhunt, was arrested in northern Israel on Friday night.

After his arrest, Sela told reporters that he ran away from prison after suffering abuse and having been stabbed by other inmates, while jailers ignored his calls for help, Army Radio reported. Sela also complained he was beaten up by police after his arrest.

The Israel Prison Service and police dismissed the allegations.

Sela, 35, escaped his two-man police escort at Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court six years into a 35-year jail sentence handed down in December 1999 for the rape and sexual assault of 14 women. He scaled the high wall surrounding the courtyard where prisoners awaiting a hearing are placed, jumped over it and disappeared.