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Photo: AFP
Lee Zeituni

Zeituni's killers demand to be tried in France

Suspects in Tel Aviv hit-and-run accident say they will plead guilty if France doesn't extradite them to Israel

The two French suspects in a hit-and-run accident that killed the 25-year-old Lee Zeituni in Tel Aviv last September are "full of remorse" over the incident, but want to be tried in France, their lawyers said Thursday.

 

The attorneys claimed that Claude Isaac Khayat and Eric Robic, who fled the country hours after the accident, fear they will not be able to receive a fair trial and fear "being lynched" upon extradition to Israel. They added that if they are promised a trial in France, they would turn themselves in and plead guilty.

 

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עורכי הדין של הדורסים, היום (צילום: AFP) 

The attorneys on Thursday (Photo: AFP)

 

While the maximum sentence the two may face in the European country is seven years in prison, in Israel they could get up to 20 years in jail for vehicular manslaughter, and up to 14 years for abandoning the victim on the scene of the accident. They could be convicted on both accounts.

 

Activists who demand Robic and Khayat's extradition told Ynet Thursday that "the attorneys' false claims prove that France has turned into an asylum for escaped criminals.

 

"The perpetrators hit, killed and abandoned Lee on a crosswalk in Tel Aviv, which is why they should be tried in Israel," the added. "We are not looking for revenge, but for a just trial."

 

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 12.29.11, 22:58
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