Last update - 00:00 09/02/2007
Family of murdered Katzrin teen demands evidence in case
By Eli Ashkenazi, Haaretz Correspondent
Relatives of murdered schoolgirl Ta'ir Rada plan to petition the High Court of Justice next week against the prosecution's refusal to give them the investigative material in the case.
In a letter to the family's attorney, Moshe Meroz, an attorney from the prosecution's northern district, Silvia Freiman, wrote Thursday that after discussing the matter with State Prosecutor Eran Shendar, the two agreed that there was no justification for deviating from the prosecution's usual practice of refusing to give such material to victims' families. However, she added, the prosecution would be happy to meet with the family, describe the evidence orally and allow them to ask questions.
A meeting of this sort took place two weeks ago, but the family left it
furious over not being permitted to see the actual material.
Attorney Shira Meroz, who is also part of the family's legal team, argued
that, "There is nothing in the law that prevents us from receiving" the
material, and "The trend is to keep victims and complainants abreast of
criminal proceedings." In particular, she said, the family is interested in discovering whether there are possible avenues of investigation that have not yet been explored.
"If they have nothing to hide, why don't they give us the material?" she
added. "There's no precedent for it, but there has also never been a case like this before."
Ta'ir Rada, 13, was murdered while at school in her hometown, the Golan
Heights community of Katzrin. Another Katzrin resident, Roman Zadorov, has been indicted for the murder, but Rada's family is still not convinced of his guilt.
The Association for the Prevention of Violence is backing the Radas' demand. In a letter to Shendar on Thursday, it argued that the family's attorneys should see the material, and an independent expert should also evaluate it, to determine whether it really ties Zadorov unequivocally to the crime.