Mohammed Abu Khdeir was burnt alive on July 2, 2014, a day after the burial of three Israeli teenagers who were abducted and murdered almost three weeks earlier.
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“The lawyers of the suspect have delayed his final verdict”. The reason? A last-minute mental health assessment – in English.
During the trial, one of the convicted Israeli minors claimed he did not realize the three of them would kill Abu Khdeir, while the other said he took part in strangling the Palestinian youth in the vehicle and pouring gasoline on his motionless body.
The trial, which has seen frequent delays and stretched out over the course of a year, however, is not over.
The two young men, whose names can not be reported, were both convicted of the murder on Monday. The report itself, and its provenance, have been kept firmly under wraps.
Mohammed Abu Khdeir, 16, was kidnapped, assaulted, and burned to death in July 2014. The judicial judge found in that Ben David drove the auto while the 2 youths beat Abu Khdeir unconscious within the back seat. The 16-year-old’s burnt body was discovered in a Jerusalem forest last week.
The initial police response to and investigation of the murder was tainted by incompetence and institutionalized racism. During a series of police interviews, the suspects confirmed Abu Khdeir was killed in retaliation for the deaths of Naftali, Shaer, and Yifrah.
“The court determined unequivocally today that the three defendants committed the barbaric crime of abducting an innocent person only because of his origin, and burning him alive”, said state prosecutor Uri Korb, vowing to contest any insanity plea.
The murder provoked violent demonstrations in East Jerusalem. Though he is an American citizen, Israel failed to notify United States authorities of the arrest and the U.S. has accused Israel of apparently singling out Khdeir family members for arrest. REUTERS/Finbarr O’Reilly Mother of murdered Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khudeir cries as she meets Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
An advisor for the Palestine Liberation Organization Xavier Abu Eid said via a tweet on Twitter that it was just another example of how cheap the lives of Palestinians are for Israel.
“The court behaves one way with Arabs and another way with Jews”, Abu Khudair said.
Mr Corb said: “When we try to claim that we are better than our enemies – and I think that we are better than them – we should look at this event as a mirror”. He reiterated his concerns outside the courtroom on Monday morning before the verdict came in.
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Asher Ohayon, the public defender who represents Ben-David, told Israel Radio that there were “real reasons” the evaluation was not submitted earlier, but he did not elaborate. Ben David confessed, incriminating the two minors. “It’s all lies and I worry that the court will free them in the end”.
