Peres reduces sentence of five men convicted in murder of teen - Haaretz

Subscribe to Print Edition

Wed., August 29, 2007 Elul 15, 5767

Israel Time: 06:40 (EST+7)

web haaretz.com

Back to Homepage

Print Edition

Diplomacy

Defense

Arts & Leisure

Real Estate

Jewish World

National

Advertising

Magazine

Week's End

Business

Opinion

Rosner's Domain

Anglo File

Travel

Sports



		The five men convicted of the murder of Danny Katz in court two years ago. (Eyal Warshovsky / BauBau)

del.icio.us

Digg It! new

Last update - 00:29 29/08/2007

Peres reduces sentence of five men convicted in murder of teen

By Anshel Pfeffer and Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondents

President Shimon Peres has reduced the sentence of five men convicted of the December 1983 murder of teenager Danny Katz, Channel 10 television reported Tuesday.

The president's office issued a statement on Tuesday declaring that Peres had "fully accepted the recommendations of the Justice Ministry" in deciding to reduce the sentences.

The Justice Ministry has not made any statements on what recommendations they made to Peres.

	Advertisement

The reduction means that the five men will be eligible for release soon, as a third of their sentence was canceled as a result of Peres' decision.

The five were first arrested just days after the murder, but were released a few weeks later when no evidence tying them to the crime could be found.

In March 1984, the five were arrested again and after several remands and a very lengthy trial they were found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment plus 27 years.

Former chief justice Aharon Barak in 1999 decided that the five were eligible for a retrial, and two months later three of them were released on bond. Two others, Ahmed Kousli and Wataf Sabihi, were convicted of the murder of Daphna Carmon in 1987 and were not eligible for release on bond as they were serving a life sentence for that crime.

The retrial ended in March 2002 after the High Court of Justice found the five defendants guilty on all counts. The presiding judge in the case issued a statement after the verdict was reached stating that in spite of faults in the police investigation of the crime, the five men were all guilty of murder and kidnapping, and there was no reason to question the decisions of the Tel Aviv court in the matter.

The defendants issued an appeal of their verdict in 2005, arguing that they were convicted based solely on confessions they gave only after they were subjected to repeated threats and beatings. They maintain that their confessions were therefore not given in the "free and willful" manner required by law.

The five argued that their retrial "lacked structure" after one of the presiding judges was replaced midway through due to a sudden illness.

They also testified that the retrial was merely a "replay" of the original trial, and did not answer any of the questions raised by Barak in his decision to call a retrial in 1999.

The court denied the defendants appeal and reaffirmed the verdict handed down by the court in 2002.

Bookmark to del.icio.us


	Baby 'weights'
	Baby Shape, Stroller Jogging and similar 'classes' combine aerobics and strength training.


	Take a second look
	Two second-hand clothing stores are finding fans and cutting down on waste.




1.	Here we go: Peres commuting Arabs who kill Jews	22:40	\|	Maya	28/08/07

2.	Why weren`t they executed ?	23:04	\|	Mike	28/08/07

3.	This is what I call Shimon turning the other cheek	23:06	\|	Jesus	28/08/07

4.	What does Perez get out of this?	23:19	\|	Yoav	28/08/07

5.	A new kind of prisoner release	00:14	\|	Chick	29/08/07

6.	IS THERE ANY SAFE PLACE FOR JEWS IN THIS WORLD?!	00:57	\|	ILSupporter	29/08/07

7.	Hunger for money destroying Israel!	00:59	\|	ILSupporter	29/08/07

8.	OMG	01:22	\|	Tom	29/08/07

9.	Peres is a weasel politician not a judge	02:03	\|	Justice	29/08/07

10.	The Israeli Left must be dismantled	02:37	\|	Frank	29/08/07

11.	maya 1	03:01	\|	realism	29/08/07

12.	I had hoped this jackass was in a harmless ceremonial job	03:49	\|	Dr. L. Brnd	29/08/07

13.	If The Law Will Not Deliver Justice	03:56	\|	Efox	29/08/07

14.	figurehead position?	04:01	\|	Alone ben Caro	29/08/07

15.	Peres is sick-look who will be released-Jews beware!	04:34	\|	Maya	29/08/07

16.	# 4- The answer is Israel	04:42	\|	Marco	29/08/07

Today Online


	Bradley Burston: We're not man enough to make peace
	Responses: 271


	Olmert and Abbas discuss three major final status issues
	Responses: 209


	Yehuda Bauer: Who's in charge in the West Bank?
	Responses: 93


	Noam Shalit: Olmert hasn't done enough toward Gilad's release
	Responses: 156


	Tamir: Bid to impose state education on Haredim will fail
	Responses: 46

Rosner's Domain

* Iraq and Gaza: History in combat

* Blog & poll: 3 writers critique the Walt-Mearsheimer book

* Why is Senator Shelby holding the Iran divestment bill?

* WTR: A sympathetic story about an Israeli settler?

More Headlines
03:25 Israel weighs building fence on Egyptian border


05:25 Israel considering request to extend amnesty plan with Fatah


05:10 Bush administration opposes Iran-Sudan divestment bills


02:30 Rabbinate forces Arab farmers to sell land 'for kashrut'


04:13 Barak wants mobile checkpoints in place of W. Bank roadblocks


05:43 Palestinian security forces say Jenin rescue proves their mettle


01:37 Hezbollah to file lawsuits against Israel for damage caused in war


05:15 High court allows Modi'in Ilit residents to remain in Heftsiba apartments


05:41 Claims Conference to spend more on welfare of Holocaust survivors