Posted on 08/29/2007 10:52:06 AM PDT by Nachum
(IsraelNN.com) Hevron activists Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir have asked Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to investigate the motives behind President Shimon Peres's decision to reduce the prison sentences of five Arab murderers.
Peres announced his decision Tuesday to quantify the sentences of five Israeli-Arabs from the north who brutally murdered 12-year-old Danny Katz of Haifa in 1983. The five were twice convicted of the murders, after then-Chief Justice Aharon Barak ordered a second trial in 1999 - against the opinions of two lower courts, ex-Chief Justice Meir Shamgar, and the police.
The murderers were sentenced to life in prison, which at the time was equal to a 24-year prison term; however, the sentencing judge added on another 27 years in order to prevent them from being granted parole.
Peres has now circumvented this caveat, ordering the sentences of two of them to stand at 45 years, and 30 years for the other three. They become eligible after serving two-thirds of their terms, such that the three are liable to be freed any day. The other two, who were also convicted of murdering female Israeli soldier Daphna Carmon in 1987, will be eligible for parole in 2015.
Ben-Gvir and Marzel have sent an urgent letter to the Attorney General and to State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss asking that they investigate the President's motives in reducing the sentences.
"There is a genuine suspicion that Peres made this decision in exchange for the votes of Arab MKs during the Knesset's Presidential election earlier this summer," Marzel and Ben-Gvir explained. They also threatened to file an appeal with the Supreme Court if their letter is ignored.
Peres, aware of the outburst of public opposition to his decision, has tried to explain himself. "I can understand the pain and outcry of the Katz family," Peres said, "whose son Danny was murdered by evil men." However, he said, Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann and a judicial committee agreed that the sentences could be commuted.
Peres explained why he, Friedmann and the committee agreed on punishments - 45 and 30 years - that were much higher than the customary life sentence at the time they were tried, which was 24 years. He said this was because of the severity of the crime. The bottom line, however, is that two of them are already eligible for parole.
Danny Katz's body was discovered in a cave near the Arab village of Sakhnin four days after he disappeared from the vicinity of his home. He had been strangled and sodomized.
I am here in Jerusalem at the moment, and the reaction is stunning. Katz’s father said it best when he said that Peres hadn’t even warmed the President’s seat before he de facto decided to commute their sentences. The reason he gave here was that the Supreme Court made him do it, which is a bald faced lie.
Can you tell me a little of what you are hearing about Peres now? There must be a lot of anger over this.
Ping!
"There is a genuine suspicion that Peres made this decision in exchange for the votes of Arab MKs during the Knesset's Presidential election earlier this summer," Marzel and Ben-Gvir explained. They also threatened to file an appeal with the Supreme Court if their letter is ignored.Imagine how much worse the problem of needing Arab votes could be...
This country is totally split between Conservative (Religious) and Liberal (Socialist), as we are. Peres has been accused of many things in the past. He was accused of taking bribes from Europe (which I don’t believe) and many other things. The fact is, he is just too old. He is 84 or 85 now and he has always been the consumate politician but is set on a legacy. Most of the right are extremely distrustful of any decisions that are being made by the current government. I have seen with my own eyes the utter contempt that the government has for any of those that have settled in Judea and Samaria and Gaza. Of all of the 9000 Jews that were brutally dragged out of Gaza, their plight is currently the worst. The government still has not honored their agreements and the vast majority can not get the promised housing. It appears that they are trying to make life so miserable, that the people will just leave. This is akin to a reverse Aliyah program. It is interesting to note that many Gush Katif former residents have not gotten housing yet, after 2 years, and yet new residents are able to get housing in less than 6 months. We had supper with a young IDF soldier this week, and he said that the divide is also strong in the Army. Israel desperately needs a new, strong leader. But I have not seen anyone yet that can fit the bill. There is a lot of talk of a Hamas Mega attack, that would be designed to torpedo the agreements between Olmert and Machmoud Abbas. Apparently there has been some kind of deal to prop up Abbas at all costs (between Bush and the EU) so that they can discredit Hamas. Hamas understands this very well, and therefore will try to scuttle the whold process. At any rate, Israeli Politics are like a powderkeg now, and something has got to give. One spark could set it off. In answer to your question, there is a tremendous amount of anger in this country, as there is in the US.
The only problem is that the damage these people can cause before then is enormous.
Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.
While these guys are undoubtedly correct, they'll never prove their case - if that corrupt filth Mazuz will even look at it. Peres is an evil SOB, but he isn't stupid. Meanwhile, look for these 2 and their families to be audited, harassed, etc. Police won't respond quickly, or at all, to their calls for help. I pity them - they are decent people trying to do the right thing - but they've picked the wrong target.
Peres, aware of the outburst of public opposition to his decision, has tried to explain himself. "I can understand the pain and outcry of the Katz family," Peres said, "whose son Danny was murdered by evil men."
No, Armillus, you can't. When one of YOUR kids is murdered, and then someone commutes their murderers' sentences for no apparent reason other than apparently to pay back some political debts, THEN you'll understand. Arrogant arsewhole!
BTW, Peres is 84. Hey, Shimon: Tick, tock, tick, tock!! Danny Katz's body was discovered in a cave near the Arab village of Sakhnin four days after he disappeared from the vicinity of his home. He had been strangled and sodomized.
This is the first I heard that Arafag was present.
I an not familiar with Israeli law, so can you please explain how a "life sentence" can translate into a definitive number of years. To my American way of thinking, the above sentence doesn't make sense. (Too bad there is no death penalty in Israel - except for Nazi war criminals, but that doesn't pertain here.)
Also, does Peres, as President, have unlimited power to commute any sentence of anyone convicted in an Israeli criminal court?
I don't know, other than it's my impression that there's no such thing as a life sentence from a practical perspective. In many states here, life=12 years.
Beware when men call evil good and good evil. That generally is done by an evil men pretending to be good. Perez and Omert are both Palestinians obviously.
I lived on a Kibbutz for a few months 25 years ago, so I got to see how the left thinks in this country. The thing that worries me though, is that there was more of a consensus then against terrorists. Now, he country is doing so much better financially, and I worry that they think the Quartet can solve their problems (trying to resurrect Land for Peace, which never has, nor will never work....
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