Last update - 00:00 28/02/2007
Court rejects plea deal for attackers of ex-policeman Ben-Or's girlfriend
By Nir Hasson and Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondents
The Tel Aviv District Court rejected Wednesday the plea agreement for Gadi Hazan and Eran Haya, who were convicted of assaulting Jubana Darley, the girlfriend of former policeman Tzachi Ben-Or.
Accordingly, Haya will receive 13 years in prison along with a two-year suspended sentence, as opposed to the eight-year prison term stipulated in the plea bargain. Hazan will receive six years in prison and a two-year suspended sentence, as opposed to four years in prison.
The two had originally been charged with murdering Ben-Or in Mexico as well, although that charge was dropped in the context of the plea agreement.
The suspects allegedly slit Darley's throat, but she remained alive.
Ben-Or is believed to have served as a mercenary for the underworld Parinyan family while also
The court criticized the agreement, saying it failed to explain the connection between Ben-Or's murder and the assault of his girlfriend, as referred to in the corrected indictment. The judges ruled that the agreement does not serve the public interest, and that it is not plausible that there is no connection between the murder of Ben-Or and the assault of Darley.
The judges further called the indictment "enigmatic."
The prosecutors had explained that they were forced to accept the plea bargain due to difficulties in providing evidence for the circumstances for the murder and in dealing with Mexican law enforcement agents who dealt with the murder.
The prosecution was expected to receive a security videotape from Mexican authorities that would help shed light on the murder, and after more than a year of delays the video that arrived appeared to be unrelated to the crime.
Contradictions were also discovered in the testimony Darley delivered in Mexico.
Defense attorneys passed information to the state prosecutor's office information contradicting details presented in the indictment.
Prosecutors were also concerned about the high cost of the trial, and the time it would take to conduct it.
Fifteen prosecution witnesses would have to be flown in from Mexico, Canada and the United Kingdom, and the prosecution said bringing the witnesses to Israel would be complicated.