Azaria at the courthouse
Photo: Yair Sagi
Surgeon testifies: Azaria's shot didn't kill al-Sharif
Prof. Dov Shimon testified for the defense on Tuesday that the Hebron soldier's head shot to the immobilized terrorist was not what killed him, disagreeing with the pathologist who testified earlier.
The defense continued to present its case in Sgt. Elor Azaria's trial on Monday in the Military Court in Jaffa; Azaria is charged with committing manslaughter when he shot dead an already-immobilized attacker, Abed al Fatah al-Sharif, in Hebron. One witness called to testimony was a cardiothoracic surgeon who testified that Azaria's shot did not cause al-Sharif's death, but rather a pulmonary embolism that was caused as a result of the first bullet that neutralized him, shot from a different soldier.
The surgeon, Prof. Dov Shimon, began by asking the panel of judges to issue a gag order on publishing his name for "reasons touching on his civilian business," but that request was denied.
Elor Azaria at the courthouse (Photo: Elor Azaria)
Previously, a pathologist from the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, Dr. Hadas Gips, had testified that al-Sharif was alive when Azaria shot him in the head, stating "The other wounds found on his body were not immediately fatal and if he had received appropriate medical treatment he would still be alive. Even without receiving medical attention he would most likely still be alive."
The shooting (צילום: עימאד אבו שמסייה. מתנדב בצלם בחברון)
Shimon disagreed with that conclusion, stating, "This made me professionally uncomfortable," stating that his examination of the chest x-rays showed otherwise.
