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Photo: B'Tselem
Shooting incident in Naalin
Photo: B'Tselem
Photo: Meir Azulay
Lt.-Col. Omri Burberg
Photo: Meir Azulay

Naalin commander may get prison sentence

Military prosecution decides to charge officer involved in Naalin shooting incident with threat, a criminal offense carrying prison term of up to three years, after High Court rules charges against him should be rendered more serious

The military prosecution plans to render charges against the lieutenant-colonel and staff-sergeant involved in a Naalin shooting incident more serious, Ynet learned Tuesday.

 

The two were originally charged with conduct unbecoming, but IDF Judge Advocate General Brig.-Gen. Avi Mandelblit has decided to add threat to the charges against Lt. Col. Omri Burberg and illegal use of a weapon to the charges against the soldier under his command.

 

The indictments against the two were filed a year ago, and stated that Burberg held a bound Palestinian anti-fence protestor while the Staff Sergeant L. fired a rubber bullet at him. Burberg was dismissed from his post as commander following the affair, and the soldier has since been discharged from the army.

 

Various human rights organizations appealed to the High Court of Justice after the two were charged with the minor transgression of conduct unbecoming, and the court ruled that the charges should be made more serious.

 

The new charges constitute a criminal offense and carry a sentence of up to three years in prison. Mandelblit announced he would instate the new charges in the indictments after High Court Justice Ayala Procaccia supported this in the court order.

 

IDF legal officials say the charges against the two differ because their actions were deemed essentially dissimilar. The new charges could bring Burberg's military career to an end if he does indeed sustain a prison sentence.

 

The officer's attorney, Shlomi Tzipori, was enraged at the High Court's decision to involve itself in the case. He has requested a panel of five judges at the trial rather than a usual panel of three, and also that three of them be officers not involved in the legal profession. The reasoning behind this is assumed to be a preference for judges not affiliated with the High Court.

 


פרסום ראשון: 07.21.09, 21:33
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