Israeljustice.com
JERUSALEM -- An Israeli magistrate is under pressure by the government to
reverse an acquittal and order stiff prison sentences for three Jewish
dissidents.
Jerusalem Magistrate Rachel Shalev-Gertal quoted a senior government
official as being personally interested in pursuing the conviction and
sentencing of Jewish dissidents even after their acquittal. Shalev-Gertal
questioned the motives of Deputy State Prosecutor for Special Affairs Shai
Nitzan in relentlessly prosecuting the case of three young Jewish dissidents
who organized a mass road-blocking in May 2005 to protest the government's
withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank after she had
acquitted them of sedition in September 2007.
"I spoke to Shai Nitzan and he has taken this case personally and there
are personal motives," Shalev-Gertal said during the Feb. 19 hearing at the
Jerusalem Magistrates Court. "This case is important to me personally. I am
pleased that the [District] Court convicted them," the judge quoted Nitzan
as saying.
The Justice Ministry denied that Nitzan acted unethically or illegally
by ordering the State Prosecutor's office to appeal the acquittal by
Shalev-Gertal to the higher court. The Jerusalem District Court later
convicted the three on the charge of sedition and returned the case to
Shalev-Gertal for sentencing.
"Every activity and decision by the State Attorney [Shai Nitzan] in this
matter is done in the framework of his job. We have nothing else to add,"
Moshe Cohen, spokesman for the Justice Ministry, said.
State Prosecutor Dan Padan asked for a stiff sentence for the three
defendants, Shai Malka, Adiel Sharabi and Ariel Vangrover, arguing that
since they had committed an ideological crime, they would repeat the
offenses.
Shai Malka, Adiel Sharabi and Ariel Vangrover, deemed the leaders of the
National Home [Bayit Leumi] movement, were charged with sedition and
incitement in connection with the blocking of Israeli highways on May 16,
2005, prior to the August 2005 expulsion of 10,000 Jews from the Gush Katif
bloc in the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank. The three defendants,
arrested on the eve of the protest, were acquitted on Sept. 20, 2007 by
Jerusalem Magistrate Rachel Shalev-Gertal on the basis of selective
enforcement of the law. The State Prosecutor's office appealed against the
acquittal and the Jerusalem District Court announced its decision to
re-indict them on Nov. 19.
"I made a mistake with the indictment," Padan said. "I now realize that
there are many more offenses. I'm not asking to convict on more
offenses...If this case would have come before the court after the case of
Beit HaShalom [government's expulsion from Jews in Peace House in Dec. 2008]
in Hebron, it's clear that you [Shalev-Gertal] would have ruled to imprison
them," Padan said.
Shalev-Gertal, who had expressed skepticism throughout the two and
half-year trial over the prosecution's claim that the defendants were the
sole architects of the campaign against the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza
Strip and northern West Bank, once again chided State Prosecutor Dan Bahat.
"Where does this arrogance come from?" Shalev-Gertal asked. "How do you
know what I would do?"
The maximum sentence for sedition is five years but Shalev-Gertal said
that a conviction or community service is often a stiff enough penalty.
"The conviction itself is a harsh sentence and probation is a harsh
sentence," Shalev-Gertal said. "Given the parameters of the case and take in
to account that the defendants don't have any criminal past and we don't
send people to prison after so many years and that they already spent four
months in jail, you come to an agreement for community service, even with
much more serious cases," she said. "The time has come to end this case."
Malka, Sharabi and Vangrover, deemed the leaders of the National Home
[Bayit Leumi] movement, were charged with sedition in connection with the
blocking of Israeli highways on May 16, 2005, prior to the August 2005
expulsion of 10,000 Jews from the Gush Katif bloc in the Gaza Strip and the
northern West Bank. The three defendants, arrested on the eve of the
protest, were acquitted on Sept. 20, 2007 by Shalev-Gertal on the basis of
selective enforcement of the law. The State Prosecutor's office appealed
against the acquittal and the Jerusalem District Court announced its
decision to convict them on Nov. 19, 2007.
Defense Attorney Ido Stouber argued that the District Court, which
convicted the three of sedition, never mentioned the sedition charge and it
was "swallowed up" in the other charges of incitement and executing a crime
as a unit but Stouber said Sharabi didn't participate in any demonstrations
and therefore the conviction is questionable.
"There is no place to convict these defendants," Stouber said. "The
District Court didn't relate specifically to the offense of sedition but
only related to the incitement to go out and demonstrate."
Stouber filed a request with the Supreme Court to hear the case and the
answer is still pending.
Shalev-Gertal said she would rule on the lesser charges and the next
hearing would be scheduled after the defendants had met with a probation
officer and the Supreme Court had responded to the petition for a hearing.
"They're doing everything to glue to us a sticker of criminals," Malka
said of the State Prosecution.
reverse an acquittal and order stiff prison sentences for three Jewish
dissidents.
Jerusalem Magistrate Rachel Shalev-Gertal quoted a senior government
official as being personally interested in pursuing the conviction and
sentencing of Jewish dissidents even after their acquittal. Shalev-Gertal
questioned the motives of Deputy State Prosecutor for Special Affairs Shai
Nitzan in relentlessly prosecuting the case of three young Jewish dissidents
who organized a mass road-blocking in May 2005 to protest the government's
withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank after she had
acquitted them of sedition in September 2007.
"I spoke to Shai Nitzan and he has taken this case personally and there
are personal motives," Shalev-Gertal said during the Feb. 19 hearing at the
Jerusalem Magistrates Court. "This case is important to me personally. I am
pleased that the [District] Court convicted them," the judge quoted Nitzan
as saying.
The Justice Ministry denied that Nitzan acted unethically or illegally
by ordering the State Prosecutor's office to appeal the acquittal by
Shalev-Gertal to the higher court. The Jerusalem District Court later
convicted the three on the charge of sedition and returned the case to
Shalev-Gertal for sentencing.
"Every activity and decision by the State Attorney [Shai Nitzan] in this
matter is done in the framework of his job. We have nothing else to add,"
Moshe Cohen, spokesman for the Justice Ministry, said.
State Prosecutor Dan Padan asked for a stiff sentence for the three
defendants, Shai Malka, Adiel Sharabi and Ariel Vangrover, arguing that
since they had committed an ideological crime, they would repeat the
offenses.
Shai Malka, Adiel Sharabi and Ariel Vangrover, deemed the leaders of the
National Home [Bayit Leumi] movement, were charged with sedition and
incitement in connection with the blocking of Israeli highways on May 16,
2005, prior to the August 2005 expulsion of 10,000 Jews from the Gush Katif
bloc in the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank. The three defendants,
arrested on the eve of the protest, were acquitted on Sept. 20, 2007 by
Jerusalem Magistrate Rachel Shalev-Gertal on the basis of selective
enforcement of the law. The State Prosecutor's office appealed against the
acquittal and the Jerusalem District Court announced its decision to
re-indict them on Nov. 19.
"I made a mistake with the indictment," Padan said. "I now realize that
there are many more offenses. I'm not asking to convict on more
offenses...If this case would have come before the court after the case of
Beit HaShalom [government's expulsion from Jews in Peace House in Dec. 2008]
in Hebron, it's clear that you [Shalev-Gertal] would have ruled to imprison
them," Padan said.
Shalev-Gertal, who had expressed skepticism throughout the two and
half-year trial over the prosecution's claim that the defendants were the
sole architects of the campaign against the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza
Strip and northern West Bank, once again chided State Prosecutor Dan Bahat.
"Where does this arrogance come from?" Shalev-Gertal asked. "How do you
know what I would do?"
The maximum sentence for sedition is five years but Shalev-Gertal said
that a conviction or community service is often a stiff enough penalty.
"The conviction itself is a harsh sentence and probation is a harsh
sentence," Shalev-Gertal said. "Given the parameters of the case and take in
to account that the defendants don't have any criminal past and we don't
send people to prison after so many years and that they already spent four
months in jail, you come to an agreement for community service, even with
much more serious cases," she said. "The time has come to end this case."
Malka, Sharabi and Vangrover, deemed the leaders of the National Home
[Bayit Leumi] movement, were charged with sedition in connection with the
blocking of Israeli highways on May 16, 2005, prior to the August 2005
expulsion of 10,000 Jews from the Gush Katif bloc in the Gaza Strip and the
northern West Bank. The three defendants, arrested on the eve of the
protest, were acquitted on Sept. 20, 2007 by Shalev-Gertal on the basis of
selective enforcement of the law. The State Prosecutor's office appealed
against the acquittal and the Jerusalem District Court announced its
decision to convict them on Nov. 19, 2007.
Defense Attorney Ido Stouber argued that the District Court, which
convicted the three of sedition, never mentioned the sedition charge and it
was "swallowed up" in the other charges of incitement and executing a crime
as a unit but Stouber said Sharabi didn't participate in any demonstrations
and therefore the conviction is questionable.
"There is no place to convict these defendants," Stouber said. "The
District Court didn't relate specifically to the offense of sedition but
only related to the incitement to go out and demonstrate."
Stouber filed a request with the Supreme Court to hear the case and the
answer is still pending.
Shalev-Gertal said she would rule on the lesser charges and the next
hearing would be scheduled after the defendants had met with a probation
officer and the Supreme Court had responded to the petition for a hearing.
"They're doing everything to glue to us a sticker of criminals," Malka
said of the State Prosecution.
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