Terrorist’s family bemoans Azaria sentence
The family of Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, who carried out a stabbing attack in Hebron and was shot to death by Elor Azaria after being neutralized, decries ‘slap on the wrist sentence,’ slamming it as a ‘farce of a verdict.’
The family of Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, the terrorist who carried out a stabbing attack in Hebron last year before being shot dead by Sgt. Elor Azaria, has expressed anger over the latter’s sentencing of 18 months in prison by a military court on Tuesday.
Commenting on the sentencing for the manslaughter, the Sharif’s father complained that Azaria’s punishment “of a year and a half is a slap on the wrist. They’re laughing in our face. It’s all a show.”
“If you arrest someone for throwing a stone they get two years. Here a soldier murders someone and gets a year and a half,” the father added, later saying “my son in not an animal. I’m not content with the verdict.”
Sharif’s family followed Azaria’s trial closely from their home in Hebron, surrounded by representatives of Palestinian and Arab media.
“If he was Palestinian, they would have thrown him in jail for the rest of his life like a dog,” said Samir, Sharif’s uncle, who beforehand expected Azaria to “do a few months max, in good conditions.”
After the verdict Samir told Ynet that “this whole sentence was nonsense. What kind of court gives a year and a half for manslaughter? They should have at least given him 10 years. Let’s say Abdel Fattah set out to kill. He failed, was wounded and fell on the floor unable to do anything. Why shoot him in the head? To end his life. This is a person, not a dog.”
Another uncle of Sharif, Abu Tarek, objected to what he also considered to be a light punishment, but said that he was hardly surprised.
“The verdict was predictable. This court is a farce and not a real court. We have Palestinian leadership and we are prepared for any decision they’ll agree upon. We also support bringing this case to the international court in The Hague. Why was the officer in charge of Azaria not prosecuted? The court leaned towards the far right and not towards conscience.”
