Rightist convicted of incitement wins appeal; verdict overturned

Yekutiel Ben-Yaakov, an extreme right-wing activist who was convicted by the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court for incitement, won a District Court appeal on Thursday, and his conviction was overturned.

According to the case file, Ben-Yaakov stood outside a Jerusalem cemetery in the winter of 2004 and handed out instigative fliers to people attending a memorial service for Rabbi Meir Kahane.

"We want to launch a referendum and give every family in Israel the chance to finally speak out… to give the masses supporting the (Rabbi Kahane) preachings the chance to express their belief – that only the expulsion of Arabs from all of Israel will lead this country towards a patulous existence," read the fliers.

The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court found that Ben-Yaakov was the one who wrote, printed and distributed the fliers, but he refuted the allegations, alleging that while he did write the material, he had no hand in its distribution.

In his appeal, Ben-Yaakov claimed that the State Prosecutor's Office did not have the evidence to support the distribution of offensive material charge and that therefore his conviction must be quashed.

"We believe that the defendant's statement to the police and the court does not go as far as to prove that he had indeed distributed the said material or presented them in any public venue," said the District Court in its ruling.

The Jerusalem District Court noted further that Ben-Yaakov's conviction must be overturned for lack of sufficient evidence.