Will minor from Duma terror attack get prison time?
The prosecution is seeking a five-and-a-half-year jail sentence.
By YONAH JEREMY BOBAmiram Ben Uliel, the suspect in the Duma arson murder in July 2015 where three members of the Dawabshe family were killed, arrives to hear his verdict at the court on May 18, 2020(photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/FLASH90)
The Lod District Court on Thursday heard sentencing arguments about whether the minor connected with the 2015 Duma terror-attack case will be sent to jail or suffice with time served.The prosecution is seeking a five-and-a-half-year jail sentence.The defense is hoping that the extensive time the minor spent in detention pre-trial as well as the enhanced interrogation he was exposed by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Service) will lead to him being sentenced merely to time served.The main culprit, Amiram Ben-Uliel, was convicted of murder on Monday; a sentencing hearing, in which life in prison will be considered, will be held for him in June.In May 2019, the minor cut a plea bargain deal leading to a conviction on reduced charges.On the one hand, the minor was not only acquitted of murdering the Dawabshe family from the 2015 arson-murder incident, but he was not even convicted of conspiracy to commit murder.On the other hand, he did confess to a background narrative in which he clearly admits to participating in planning some kind of attack on Duma, including surveillance of that village specifically.In addition, for those who say that the minor did nothing but discuss, he was convicted of other arson and price tag attacks, even as they did not involve murder.Why the minor did not participate in the actual attack – having told Ben-Uliel that he would participate – was never clarified, although speculation is that he merely overslept the time he was due to meet Ben-Uliel.Once all of these points are more carefully delineated, it seems critical that the minor did participate in planning the Duma attacks – and essentially admitting to that in the background facts – but that there was insufficient evidence to prove a connection to a specific murder conspiracy.
The court will weigh these issues as well as the fact that it disapproved of how the Shin Bet treated the minor, signaled by its disqualification of his confession to additional charges of conspiracy to commit murder.
