Soldier acquitted of murder compensated

An Israel Defense Forces soldier who was indicted for murdering a Palestinian civilian will receive NIS 8,000 (USD 1778) in compensations from the army, a military court ruled Sunday.

Staff Sergeant N was arrested in the summer of 2004 following information received by Military Police that he persuaded a fellow soldier to shoot a Palestinian civilian. The incident occurred in 2003 when the two soldiers were manning the Philadelphi route that lies on the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian who was fixing a television antenna on the roof of his house died in the incident.

The prosecution accused both soldiers of murder, the most serious offense attributed to IDF soldiers over the past five years of fighting in the territories.

The military agreed to extend the remand of N and his friend until the end of the trial. The two soldiers were found guilty and sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment.

The soldier’s lawyers demanded that he be released to house arrest, arguing that testimonies given by three soldiers against the defendant are insincere and therefore unreliable. Military judges seemed to support the same view, claiming they were under the impression that one of the testifying soldiers was lying and deliberately trying to incriminate the defendant.

'Distress due to delays, deficiencies in trial

In January 2005, Sergeant N was released to house arrest. The military court subsequently acquitted him of all charges, claiming that the prosecution’s witnesses are unreliable. The other soldier implicated in the case was sentenced to two years in prison.

N returned to the IDF and was drafted to permanent service in a fighting unit. Upon his return to service he attempted to get compensation from the military for the time he had spent in jail and the distress that he had gone through.

Lawyers representing N pressed for the maximum compensation under the military penal code, arguing that their client suffered from distress in light of delays and deficiencies in the trial.

The prosecution argued that the no damage was caused to the soldier’s good name, as his identity was not made public and he was reimbursed for every month he had spent in jail.

A military judicial panel headed by Lieutenant Colonel Orli Markman noted that N is an excellent fighter and ruled that had suffered from mental strain during the trial, especially in light of the fact that his father was diagnosed with cancer whilst he was in jail and lately died.