Anti Disengagement protestors sentenced to more prison time than some
Palestinians who attempted murder
Dr. Aaron Lerner 7 February 2008
Tel Aviv District Court Judge George Kara sentenced Mordechai and Eltizur
Harel Levenstein to 40 months and 30 months respectively for endangering
lives in a public thoroughfare (see below).
Palestinian terrorists released back in July 2007 (see below) included
terrorists sentenced for as little as:
Attempted murder: 25 months
Shooting: 16 months
Planting bomb or incendiary material: 12 months
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ISRAEL COURT SENTENCES ANTI-DISENGAGEMENT PROTESTERS TO STIFF PENALTIES
Israeljustice.com
Date added: 2/6/2008
www.israeljustice.com/news2.asp?key=101
JERUSALEM -- An Israeli judge has sentenced two Jewish dissidents to years
in prison for a road-blocking protest against the Disengagement in August
2005.
More than two years later, Tel Aviv District Court Judge George Kara
sentenced Mordechai and Eltizur Harel Levenstein to 40 months and 30 months
respectively for endangering lives in a public thoroughfare.
Mordechai Levenstein, a father of six and a Talmud teacher and his
brother Elitzur Levenstein, were convicted of planning to block the Ayalon
Highway leading to Tel Aviv in central Israel on May 3, 2005 by setting fire
to their vehicle.
"They [the defendants] wanted to place an explosive device on the
Ayalon," Kara said on Feb. 3.
For their part, the brothers said they had aborted the plan, part of a
mass road-blocking campaign to protest the government's expulsion of 16,000
Jews from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank.
According to the indictment, police arrested Elitzur Levenstein and a
third defendant, Avraham Levkovitch in two separate vehicles, one loaded
with flammable materials, parked on a side street.
The indictment said that the three aborted the plan when the ignition
failed on the car with the flammable materials.
After their arrest, the Levenstein brothers and Levkovitch spent six
months in prison without trial.
Levkovitch has since reached a deal with the prosecution and was
sentenced to 18 months.
Mordechai and Elitzur Levenstein were convicted in November 2007 and
Kara ordered the brothers to be held until the end of judicial proceedings.
The brothers appealed the decision to the Supreme Court but Supreme
Court President Judge Dorit Beinish upheld Kara's decision and sent them
back to the Ayalon Prison.
"The sentence was expected at the outset," Shmuel Levenstein, Mordechai
and Elitzur's father said. "What happened during the trial was more serious
than what my sons planned."
This is not the first time that Kara has meted out stiff penalties to
anti-Disengagement protesters who planned to block roads.
In June 2006, Kara sentenced two 50 year-old French immigrants, Yves
Andre Cahen and Esther Eliezer, to an additional six months each in jail for
burning a tire at the side of the road in the central Israeli town of
Netanya. The two, a former Paris labor court judge and a pianist, had
already spent one month in prison without trial and had been ordered exiled
from their homes for two months until after the Disengagement.
In January 2007, Cahen and Eliezer appealed to the Supreme Court which
overruled Kara's decision and commuted their sentences to six months
community service.
Mordechai and Elitzur Harel said they will appeal to the Supreme Court.
----
Average sentence of prisoners being released: shooters: 5.43 years attempted
murderers 5.59 years bombers 4.97:
Dr. Aaron Lerner 17 July 2007
www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=35314
The list of Palestinian prisoners slated for release made available today by
the Israel Prisons Authority (see below) reports the crimes each was serving
time for, the day the prisoner was captured and the date the prisoner is
scheduled to be released. IMRA calculated years sentence to serve as the
number of days between day captured and scheduled release date divided by
365.
Using this information yields the following results:
1. Sentenced for attempting murder
Number: 61, Range of sentence: 2.08 - 9.51 years, Average sentence: 5.59
years
2. Sentenced for shooting
Number: 78, Range of sentence: 1.33 - 13.01 years, Average sentence: 5.43
years
3. Sentence for planting bomb or incendiary material
Number: 67, Range of sentence: 1.17 - 20.01 years. Average sentence: 4.97
years
================
NOTIFICATION IN RESPECT TO THE RELEASE OF PALESTINIAN PRISONERS (RESIDENTS
OF JUDEA AND SAMARIA).
Israel Prisons Authority
www.ips.gov.il/NR/exeres/27740A1A-D5D7-4466-B7D4-F98A9A804EA3.htm
On July 17 2007, the Ministerial Committee appointed on July 8 2007 by the
Government of Israel decided to reduce the sentence of 256 Palestinian
prisoners whose names appear on the attached list.
The Government's decision was reached following the meeting of the
Coordinating Committee, headed by the Director-General of the Ministry of
Justice which included representatives of all the relevant authorities
connected with the matter (General Security Service , Israel Defense Force ,
Israel Prison Service and Ministry of Justice ) who examined the
suitability of the Palestinian Prisoners to the criteria fixed by
Government Decision No. 606 dating from 27 July 2003 and after the Committee
Dealing with the Release of the Palestinian prisoners confirmed the lists
individually .
In accordance with the decision of the Government, the list doesn't include
prisoners with "blood on their hands ". 61 prisoners have served more than
two thirds of their sentence, 93 prisoners have served over a half but less
than two thirds of their sentence and 102 prisoners have served over a
third but less than half of their sentence .
It should be noted that the decision in respect to the prisoners release was
conditional to the agreement of the relevant authorities and after
considering any objections that were raised.
For Inquires or further information please contact the Department of Pardons
at the Ministry of Justice - Tel : 02-6466801/2/3/4/ between 08:30-16:00.
www.ips.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/BEB4CFF2-2BAB-4821-BCEB-D286B7A440EC/0/asirim.xls
for file listing all prisoners
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