Last update - 00:00 24/01/2007
Court orders 5 murder suspects freed due to legal foot-dragging
By Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondent
Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levi on Wednesday ordered the release of five murder suspects in two separate cases in light of foot-dragging on the part of the legal system that has caused unreasonable delays in the processing of their trials.
The ruling came at the conclusion of hearings on two petitions submitted by the state in order to extend the suspects' remand to allow the completion of the legal proceedings against them.
One of the cases in question pertains to brothers Rafi and Moshe Ohana and Shalom Sheetrit, who are suspected of several murders as well as other serious offenses. Proceedings on their case have been held at the Tel Aviv District Court since June 2004.
The second case relates to Yisrael Ganon and Meir Jano, who are suspected of murdering Shaked Shelahov, a young girl. The proceedings for their case have been held since July 2004 at the Be'er Sheva District Court.
The reason for the delay in the two trials is the prosecution witness Yaron Senkar, who was tried in a separate trial at the same time the state sought to use his testimony in the Ohana brothers murder trial, as as well as in the Shelahov case. Under a process known as the Kinsey Rule, Senkar, as an indicted criminal, was prohibited from testifying against his accomplices until after his own trial is concluded.
Senkar is now serving two life sentences for convictions of murders he committed on behalf of the Ohana brothers.
Justice Levi instructed the Tel Aviv and Be'er Sheva courts to agree to imposeing alternative measures of incarceration to remand.
"The respondents have been kept in remand for over two and a half years and I believe that many more months will have elapsed before their trials are concluded. Under these circumstances I am of the opinion that the time has come to give credence to their right to liberty over any other consideration," Levi wrote.
Dr. Dana Fogatz, who is representing the parents of Shaked Shelahov, was angered by the ruling.
"The parents were not even informed about (Wednesday's) decision, a fact indicating at the trampling over their rights. We are worried the defendants will escape the dread of the law," she said.
The defendants' attorneys said they were pleased with the ruling, adding it should have been issued a long time ago.