4 'avenging policemen' get 1 year in jail
Police officer, three detectives convicted of planting explosive device under criminal Michael Mor's car sentenced to one year in prison, one year probation
A police officer and three detectives were sentenced to one year in prison and one year probation after being convicted of planting an explosive device under the car of criminal Michael Mor.
Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said in response to the sentence, "The court's decision must be honored, but we must not ignore the fact that these are dedicated and professional policemen who were engaged in a long and exhausting battle against criminal elements, with no values, seeking to hurt them and their families.
"I declare that the war on crime organizations will continue on all fronts, as will the prevention, enforcement and legislation in the courtroom," the minister said in a statement.
Police Commissioner Dudi Cohen told reporters in Jerusalem that he recognized the court's decision with appreciation. "The decision is difficult and the incident is difficult," he said. The sentence will require the police to deal with matters of values."
Cohen promised that the police would draw its lessons from the affair. "The entire people of Israel knows that the police have been handling crime organizations firmly over the past three years. The police officers must know that they are fully backed by the Israel Police and by myself as police commissioner."
Justices Yosef Elron, Rivka Lemelshtrich and Kamal Saab were at odds over the sentence, with Judge Elron claiming that the officers should be sent to three years in prison.
Elron wrote in his ruling, "If a sense of lack of security and abandonment, as they defined it, is what led them to commit these acts, what will the ordinary citizen say when he feels his personal security is being impaired and his appeals to law enforcement authorities are not answered. Will he take the law into his hands, as veteran and experienced police officers did?"
Judge Saab said, however, that due to the danger the policemen were in, they should receive a lighter sentence. He mentioned the ruling which spoke of "dozens of violent incidents in the city of Nahariya, which included attacks and attempts to harm policemen, their families and public figures."
One of the convicts, Yossi Levy, said after the sentence was handed, "We hoped we would be able to put this affair behind us, but in light of the harsh sentence we may have to appeal to the Supreme Court."
Conspiracy to commit aggravated assault
In July, the Haifa District Court convicted police detectives Eldad Hadad, Rami Musa and Yossi Levy and Superintendent Yaniv Ashur of conspiracy to commit aggravated assault against known Nahariya felon Michael Mor. A forth defendant, a civilian, was found not guilty.
The case dates back to November 2007, when the officers were first arrested on suspicion of planting an explosive device under Mor's car in retaliation to a grenade being hurled at one of the detectives' homes.
The defendants maintained their innocence throughout the investigation and trial, claiming self-defense, but the court rejected the claim, saying the device planted under Mor's car was meant to be deadly, thus proving that their act were premeditated.
Even before the verdict was read officer Eldad Hadad reiterated his claim that the explosive devices were not meant to be deadly. "I didn't mean to cause any harm or damage in any way. Everything that was done was done out of lack of choice, out of self defense, and for the protection of justice, civilians, police in general, my family and myself."
