Posted on 01/04/2017 9:05:10 AM PST by Eleutheria5
A military court in the Kiryat army complex in Tel Aviv handed down a guilty verdict to Sgt. Elor Azariya Wednesday morning.
Azariya, accused of manslaughter after shooting a wounded terrorist in Hevron on March 24th, 2016, claimed that he opened fire on the terrorist as an act of self-defense, arguing that he feared the terrorist was attempting to detonate an explosive device.
Following the decision by the court, Azariya is expected to be transferred immediately from the court to prison, even before a final sentence is handed down. Azariya will likely receive his sentence in February. He could face up to 20 years in jail.
During the exhaustive two-and-a-half-hour explanation and reading of the verdict on Wednesday, Judge Maya Heller stated that in the view of the court, "there was no immediate danger from the terrorist lying on the ground,” rejecting the foundation of the defense’s claim. Heller added that in the court’s opinion, the defendant contradicted himself on several occasions.
“The accused opened fire against the [army’s] rules of engagement,” said Heller. “The terrorist was not a threat. The accused denied the claims against him and argued that the terrorist did in fact constitute a threat. He argued that… there was a concrete threat to him and his peers due to concerns that [the terrorist was armed] with a [concealed] knife or explosive device.”
Heller added that shouting heard at the scene of the attack, which included claims that the terrorist appeared to be concealing a bomb and exhorting those in the area to keep their distance, did not justify Azariya’s actions.
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(Excerpt) Read more at israelnationalnews.com ...
‘wounded terrorist’ = job half finished
“Following the decision by the court, Azariya is expected to be transferred immediately from the court to prison, even before a final sentence is handed down. Azariya will likely receive his sentence in February”
Counting coup for the Fraud while still time.
Trump has promised to change the “Rules of engagement.”
Israeli courts suffer from problems quite similar to many American courts. (The Supreme Court in Jerusalem is at least as far off- track as the usa Supreme Court — hopefully both will be repaired soon. )
This is an Israeli Army soldier and an Israeli court so I doubt that Trump could change whatever ROE they operate under.
This is a military tribunal, so you’d think they’d have a bit of sense, constantly dealing with ROE and life and death situations. Wish I knew how much appellate recourse is available to the defendant.
They’re making a human sacrifice of this kid for appeasement purposes. As long as the Israelis have to follow rules, and the terrorists don’t, guess who has the advantage?
Exactly.
Should have given him a medal.
So, this was a sort of “Breaker Morant” type of case.
I understand this was an Israeli soldier. Our troops have gone thru the same kind of BS. Trump has promised to change this. Looks like Israel is thinking of a pardon for this soldier.
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