The Haifa District Prosecution subpoenaed Sunday 12 of Shfaram's residents to a pre-trial hearing in connection with the killing of IDF soldier Eden Natan Zada.
Zada, a military deserter, boarded a bus in Shfaram in August of 2005 and began shooting its passengers, killing four people and wounding nine, before he was apprehended by some of the passengers. He was later captured by a local mob and beaten to death.
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| Protest: Don't put lynch perpetrators on trial / Roee Nahmias |
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Hundreds of residents of Arab town of Shfaram call not to put those who perpetrated lynch of Jewish soldier terrorist Eden Natan Zada, who murdered four Shfaram residents in August 2005. MK Barakeh: 'We will break any hand raised against us' |
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The prosecution stated it is considering indicting all 12 on various charges of aggravated assault. None of the men are currently facing manslaughter or murder charges.
Ten months after the attack, police arrested six people in connection to Zada's lynching. A seventh suspect turned himself in shortly thereafter.
Several weeks after being detained, the suspects were remanded to house arrest. The arrests inflamed Shfaram's residents, who initiated a series of protest rallies against the State's intent to prosecute the alleged offenders.
The Shfaram bus, shortly after the attack (Archive photo: AP)
Balad chairman, MK Jamal Zahalka slammed the Haifa prosecution's decision to subpoena the Shfaram residents in the case: "This is an act of provocation. The police failed to find out who was assisting Zada and who sent him, and are blaming the victims. If they indict they will have riots on their hands," he said.
Hadash Chairman MK Mohammad Barakeh added that "any minute longer in which Zada would have lived could have claimed the lives of many more of Shfaram's residents.
"The investigation should focus on the military, which knew they had a dangerous deserter on their hands," he said.
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