President reduces sentence of Kikos murderer
Peres adopts former justice minister's recommendation to shorten sentence of Suleiman Abeid to 27 years. Convicted 16 years ago of raping, murdering teenager Hanit Kikos, Abeid may be released in very near future if state decides to reduce his term by further third for good behavior
President Shimon Peres has adopted former Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann's recommendation to reduce the sentence of Suleiman Al-Abeid to 27 years.
Peres said on Wednesday that he had decided to shorten Al-Abeid's prison term by six years from the original 33 he was sentenced to after being convicted of the rape and murder of 17-year-old Hanit Kikos in 1993.
The president's decision means Al-Abeid will be able to appeal to the parole board in the near future, and possibly see an additional third of his sentence reduced for good behavior.
Friedmann recommended the reduction due to Al-Abeid's personal circumstances, as well as the fact that his conviction was not unanimous but rather the result of a majority vote.
Kikos' disappearance and the discovery of her remains gripped the country in June 1993. The teenager was last seen waiting at a hitchhiking post near her hometown of Ofakim. Al-Abeid, a resident of Rahat, was arrested eight days later. After several days of being interrogated, Al-Abeid confessed to having raped and murdered Kikos, yet he was unable to point investigators to her remains.
Due to the complex nature of the case, Peres turned to Friedmann's successor, Yaakov Ne'eman, to ask for his recommendation. The latter told the president that he decided not to reexamine Friedmann's position and that he would respect the president's decision. Peres will send his decision to Ne'eman, who must give his signature of certification.
Family: We know he's not the murderer
"Everyone knows Al-Abeid is not the murderer. I used to think we were the only ones who knew, but now everyone does," Rafi Kikos, Hanit's father, told Ynet on Wednesday evening after Peres made his decision public.
Kikos said that by reducing Al-Abeid's sentence the state was "acquitting him through the back door." Shortening his prison term "is really the system admitting it made a mistake, today everyone knows the system was wrong.
"The police, the prosecution, the court, they all know he is not the murderer. But there was no one who stood up and said 'let's close this case and find the real murderer.' Our family's goal is to have the case reopened, to find the real killer. They won't find him if they won't reopen the case."
Hanit's mother, Dolly, said she respected and welcomed Peres' decision.
Abeid's daughter, Manal, found little comfort in the decision, saying her father has already paid a terrible price "for what was obviously a mistake. "He has five grandchildren he's never met, everything about this is wrong. Our lives were ruined and still he's being made a mockery of," she said.
Ilana Curiel contributed to this report
