Story By: Alex Cope, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
Video Credit:CEN
The former Israeli soldier accused of killing his mother and aunt in Argentina has reportedly threatened to kill himself because he was forced to take a bath in prison despite having a phobia of water.
Former Israeli Army soldier Nicolas Gilad Gil Pereg, 36, was arrested in January for allegedly strangling his mother, Pyrhia Saroussy, 63, and shooting dead his aunt, Lily Pereg, 54, before burying their bodies at his home in the Buena Nueva district of the city of Mendoza in western Argentina.
His lawyer Maximiliano Legrand has now called for protective measures to be given to Pereg as they say he is being mistreated in the San Felipe prison where he is being held.
Speaking to Argentine TV channel Canal 9, Legrand said: “They (prison staff) know he has a phobia of water, and he called us in an emotional state say that he was going to commit suicide because they had bathed him.”
The lawyer claimed that his client had been handcuffed, beaten and thrown to the floor in order for staff to bathe him. He added: “Everybody has determined that he is a psychiatric patient and he has a pathology with respect to water.” However, an initial study by the Medical Examiner found that he was not mentally impaired and could be tried for the crimes. His defence appealed but in April a magistrate upheld the initial findings and rejected an appeal to have the study nullified.
Pereg’s lawyers are reportedly asking for him to be moved to a prison in the capital Buenos Aires, although local media outlet Infobae report the authorities have ruled this out. The Ministry of Security in Mendoza reportedly denied the accusations and claimed the story was a “manoeuvre from the defence”.
Pereg made headlines after his arrest after he was filmed sitting naked on his prison bed and snarling like a cat.
Smartphone footage shot by a guard shows Pereg sitting naked on his bed as his cell door is opened for him to be taken to see the prison doctor.
When the guard asks if he is going to put on his clothes, Pereg snarls at him and scratches at the air like an angry cat.
He is still awaiting trial on two counts of murder.
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