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Last update - 04:19 15/05/2008 Brothers in 'honor killing' could get bail By Roni Singer-Heruti, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Tel Aviv District court  Two years have passed since indictments were filed against Salame Abu Ghanem and Mohammed Abu Ghanem for murdering their 19-year-old sister, Reem, and the end of the trial is nowhere in sight - even though the two confessed to the crime during the investigation. Legal foot-dragging has prevented the Tel Aviv District Court from even setting dates for the trial sessions. For a year and a half, the court has not conducted sessions on the matter, other than to set new dates. Now the police fear the same legal delays may bring about the Lod brothers' release. In a Supreme Court session last week, Justice Esther Hayut was asked to extend the remand of the two for the seventh time. But this time, Judge Hayut decided to take into consideration the accused's rights to "freedom based on a presumption of innocence," in light of the fact that several family members have already testified, and because there is no way to know when the trial might end. Advertisement Therefore, Hayut extended their remand for only another 45 days, during which time another four witnesses will testify. She also asked the District Court to consider placing the defendants under house arrest or other limitations at the end of the period. Her ruling did not order the defendants freed at the end of the 45 days, but did limit the length of time the two could be held without the trial ending or without considering possible alternatives to prolonged custody. By law, defendants may be held for only nine months. After that, the prosecution must request an extension from the Supreme Court. The prosecution and police are furious over the ruling. Prosecutors accuse the defendants' lawyers of "cynically abusing the legal system" to draw out the trial, and say the judges have handled the case poorly. They say they are worried the two will flee the country if released on bail. The defendants' lawyers, however, say the court approved the postponements. "It is not every day we succeed in indicting murder suspects in 'family honor' killings, and this is a case of men who confessed," said an officer in the Shefela region police. "The accused can easily come to court and propose impressive alternatives to custody, but the minute the two are freed, they will flee overseas. What do they have to lose? In any case they are on the way to life in prison," said the police. Reem Abu Ghanem was murdered in March 2006. Her "crime" was her refusal to marry a man from Ramle whom the family had promised her to. Her brothers decided to punish her for her refusal. She had fallen in love with someone else, a Palestinian from Ramallah, and when she fled to him one night, her brothers decided to murder her, according to the indictment. Reem was the seventh Abu Ghanem woman to be murdered for "family honor." The latest killing, the eighth, of Hamda Abu Ghanem, 18, occured in early 2007. The prosecution claims four of Reem's brothers were involved, and that Suliman, a pediatrician at Assaf Harofeh Hospital, was the leader. He gave his brother Ahmad an anesthetic to drug Reem, after which brothers Salame and Mohammed took their unconscious sister to a well near Rehovot. When she regained consciousness and pleaded for her life, the two strangled her and dumped her body in the well, the indictment states. The police managed to get the two brothers to confess, partly through an informer and partly during questioning. The two even reenacted the murder. Suliman and Ahmad were charged separately, and their trial is nearing its conclusion. However, the trial of Salame and Mohammed has not even reached its halfway point. Some of the delays were due to changes in the panel of judges, requests by the defense for more time to learn the material, and disagreements over trial dates. The prosecution argues that the judges should have understood the uniqueness of the case and the amount of time the defendants have sat in jail awaiting trial. Related articles: Brothers sentenced to life in jail for 'honor killing' of sister Abu-Ghanem women speak out against serial 'honor killings' Women's rights group: Arab 'honor' killings claim 9 victims in 2005 Brother shoots sister in suspected 'honor killing' attempt Bookmark to del.icio.us   Animated massacre Animated Israeli film at Cannes explores Sabra and Shatila massacre. Kowtowing to funders When papers are sponsored, can their reporting be truly independent?   1.   Honourless Murder 05:56  |  Eli B 15/05/08   2.   shoot the bastards 06:30  |  real vision 15/05/08   3.   "quotation marks" 07:51  |  gawain 15/05/08   4.   Honor Killings Don`t Exist Under Islam 08:33  |  NS 15/05/08   5.   Honour murders and `tolerant` courts 08:48  |  Ulf 15/05/08   6.   real vision, we have not a capital punishment for such cases, 09:03  |  vladimir 15/05/08   7.   For the woman`s honor, kill the brothers. 05:08  |  David 16/05/08   8.   Honor killings 14:39  |  Gina 16/05/08   9.   They should get LIFE without Parole 17:10  |  J 16/05/08   10.   The honorable thing to do would be to kill themselves 00:10  |  No honor in murder 18/05/08

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