Last update - 00:00 17/07/2007
Rights group slams 'light' indictment for officer who killed Israeli Arab
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
The Mossawa Center harshly criticized Tuesday an indictment recently filed at the Haifa District Court against police officer Shahar Mizrahi, 27, from Karkur, for shooting and killing 23-year-old Mahmoud Ganaim last year, after the latter was suspected at the time of breaking into a vehicle in Pardes Hannah.
The organization, which advocates equality for Israeli Arabs, said the state prosecution's counts in the indictment- which charges Mizrahi with manslaughter- were far too light.
"After a year of foot-dragging, in which Ganaim was buried and his family suffered, and the police officer continued to work as a police officer, the prosecution files a relatively light indictment for manslaughter," said Ami Hollander, representing the Mossawa Center.
Mizrahi initially claimed to have opened fire out of self defense, but his version of events has been seen as problematic.
The victim's family had said in the past that it would not be satisfied with charges of manslaughter.
"The officer fired so that the gun would kill. He fired without advanced warning. This is deliberate murder," Jaya Ganaim, the victim's uncle said.
"The shooting was against the law and was directed at the brains of the deceased," said the Mossawa Center statement. "The relatively light indictment does not deter trigger-happy police officers whose violence brought the deaths of citizens."
The center demanded to put Mizrahi's commanders on trial, who on the day of the incident made it seem that Ganaim was driving in a stolen vehicle, even though he was driving in his family's car.
The center has documented 33 different incidents in which Arab citizens were killed by security forces in the past seven years.