'Model inmate.' Abrushmi
Photo: Jeremy Feldman
Emil Grinzweig (Archives)
Killer of Peace Now activist seeks early parole, again
Yona Abrushmi's lawyer says 'new circumstances', rehabilitation program, justify his release. 'If State paroled Kuntar, it can release my client,' he adds
Yona Abrushmi, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of Emil Grinzweig during a Peace Now rally in 1983, has petitioned the Israel Prison Service for an early parole yet again.
Abrushmi's life sentence has already been reduced to 27-and-a-half years and is due to elapse in March 2011. The convict's previous request for early parole in 2007 was denied by the Prison Service Parole Board, which claimed that his views remained extreme in nature.
The IPS Parole Board granted two of Abrushmi's petitions for an early release, but its decisions were overturned following the State's appeals.
Attorney Avi Amiram, for Abrushmi, claims that a "new set of circumstances" applies to the case and justifies his release.
According to the petition, these "new circumstances" include a rehabilitation program he took part in after being transferred to Maasiyahu Prison, as well as the IPS now classifying him as a "model inmate".
To substantiate his client's case, Aviram cited a number of similar cases that ended in early parole, including convicted spy Marcus Klingberg and Daniel Morali, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1994 murder of a Palestinian truck driver.
Aviram even mentioned Samir Kuntar, who was released by Israel earlier this year in the framework of an exchange deal with Hizbullah for slain IDF reserve soldiers Eldad Regev and Udi Goldwasser.
"No one was swallowed by the bowels of the earth (when Kuntar was released)," he said, "and no harm came to any public figure. This will also be the case if Abrushmi is released."
