‘Israeli’ Soldier Appeals Already-lenient Sentence for Killing Palestinian Man
Local Editor
‘Israeli' soldier Elor Azaria sentenced to 18 months in prison for killing a wounded Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank last year, filed an appeal against his manslaughter conviction and already-lenient jail term.
On Wednesday, attorney Yoram Sheftel representing Sergeant Elor Azaria lodged the appeal to the military court.
In the petition to the court, the lawyer asked that the date his client is due to arrive to serve his time, slated for March 5, be deferred until the end of legal proceedings.
Earlier in the day, three other lawyers that represented Azaria from the initial stages of his arrest - identified as Ilan Katz, Eyal Besserglick, and Carmit Shchiver - announced that they were resigning from the case.
The trio announced in a statement that they believed avenues other than an appeal would be preferable.
Azaria was sentenced by a military court on February 21 to 18 months in prison plus a 12-month probation on top of his jail term. He was demoted to the rank of private as well.
Murder charges were brought against Azaria after video footage, recorded by a Palestinian rights activist, emerged showing him killing Abdel Fattah al-Sharif in the occupied West Bank city of al-Khalil on March 24, 2016.
The 21-year-old Palestinian lay on the ground unable to move after ‘Israeli' military forces had initially shot and wounded him over an alleged stabbing attack.
Azaria arrived at the scene approximately 11 minutes after the purported assault, cocked his rifle and shot Sharif in the head, killing him.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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