Bar Noar founder to receive compensation after case against him collapses
Ganon was arrested in June 2013 on suspicion of sexually assaulting a minor, believed to be the motive for the murders at the youth center.
By TZVI JOFFREBar Noar LGBT youth center in Tel Aviv after shooting attack, Aug. 2, 2009(photo credit: GILI COHEN MAGEN/REUTERS)
LGBTQ activist and founder of the Bar Noar Tel Aviv LGBT youth center Shaul Ganon, 50, will receive hundreds of thousands of shekel in compensation from the state after charges that he was part of the motive for a shooting at the Bar Noar in 2009, according to Israel Hayom.Ganon was arrested in June 2013 on suspicion of sexually assaulting a minor, believed to be the motive for the murders at the youth center. The activist filed suit against the state on claims of slander and negligence by Israel Police. During the investigation, the police accused Ganon in a "negligent manner" of being part of the motive for the murders and "distortions" of his questioning were published in newspapers, according to Ganon's attorneys, Oron Shwartz and Yugav Narkis. "As a result, a mark of Cain was placed on his Ganon's forehead."Ganon's attorneys added that his name wasn't cleared even after the investigation was shown to be faulty. According to the terms of the settlement, the state will pay Ganon NIS 200,000 and will not admit to his claims or to any damages to him.The police case against alleged trigger man Hagai Felician and suspected accomplice Tarlan Hankishayev was built on the theory that the two were taking revenge on Ganon for sexually assaulting a male relative of Felician, then a minor and later the third suspect in the case.Zohar Hankishayev, the state witness in the case against Ganon, was indicted for fabricating evidence in 2014. Zohar was a childhood friend of Felician and the other suspects. He signed a deal with police in 2013, claiming that he knew who carried out the killings. The case collapsed after Zohar was arrested.Youth counselor Nir Katz, 26, and teenager Liz Triboshi, 16, were murdered and 11 people were wounded in the 2009 attack on the LGBT youth center. A decade later, the case still hasn't been closed and the murderer remains unknown.Ben Hartman contributed to this report.
