Military Court Ofer – Tuesday, 23.1.07, 9:30-15:00Rony Hammerman, Nora Orlov (reporting)Translation: Lydia A.On our arrival we were told by Wapi that due to some hitch the hearings lists will not be available. At 11:00 we found the lists of the day’s hearings in the boxes at the entrance to the courtrooms. Courtroom 2 3 judges (2 of them reserve) Major Amir Dahan Case no. 3205/05 – Muhmad Rad Mutstafa RadadProsecution? Defense: Ahlam HadadCharge: Attempt to inflict deathType of hearing: evidence(No protocol) Mother and sister present in the courtroom. The accused denies the charge. Interrogation of the accused by prosecution: The accused states that he has been a student in the Abu Dis area. In 2002 he was taken from a road block for investigation concerning trading in arms. In 2004 he was interrogated concerning trading in arms and shooting. In the course of 3 years he has been summoned many times to court but does not know why he was arrested. Charged with things he is not connected with. The new indictment charges him with connection to an attack. Had he known that the arms were to be used in an attack he would not have sold them. The buyer said he needed the gun for personal protection in a private conflict. Had he known that the buyer came from Jerusalem he would not have sold him the gun, for fear of arrest.Cross-interrogation by defense: Had you known that the gun would be used in an attack, would you have sold it? Accused: No, why would I get involved? Defense: The prosecutor claims that the buyer told you that he needed the gun for an attack. Accused: This is not true. It is clear that had he said that I would not have sold him the gun. Cross-interrogation by prosecution: Why did he want to buy specifically from you? -We became friends while serving as soldiers in the Palestine Authority. -You knew that he served as liaison and you daid nothing. The prosecutor insists that in his statement the accused said explicitly that the buyer had told him that he needed the gun to kill Jews. The chief judge reprimands the prosecutor for the type of questions he is asking. He also presses the prosecution and the defense to arrive at a plea bargain. In his view the legal differences are insubstantial. Recommends that the parties discuss this and report back with the outcome in two hours. Prosecution requests 45 days to work on the case (until 28.2.07). Final hearing will take place on Sunday, 15.4.07.Courtroom 13 judges: Major Yair Tirosh, Major Dahlia Kaufmann, Major Michael Ben DavidCase no. 3704/06 – Iman Anzar Sayid SharifProsecution? Defense Anwar Abu OmerCharge: Attempt to cause deathType of hearings: EvidenceOn entering the courtroom the accused impressed us as mentally disturbed. Sister and brother present in the courtroom. They tell us that the accused has been mentally ill for 20 years. The man is accused of stabbing a soldier at a roadblock in Hebron on 11.6.06. He says he wanted the soldier to shoot him. An Israeli psychiatrist appears as witness for the prosecution to give a medical opinion on the accused. Her impression is that the accused is suffering from schizophrenia. She says that he has been getting anti-psychotic treatment to prevent outbreaks. It has not been proven that he was in a psychotic state before committing the offense. A psychotic state has not been observed during police interrogation. He has changed his statement several times. Claimed to have been confused and did not remember what had happened. The witness describes the accused as manipulative. In her opinion, he is responsible for his actions. She disagrees with the opinion of the psychiatrist who is to appear on behalf of the defense. The brother and sister have been waiting for about two hours outside the courtroom because they had thought that the court ordered a medical opinion by another psychiatrist. They were told that the court has not issued such order. In the next hearing, to be held on Tuesday, 30.1.07, another psychiatrist will appear as a witness for the defense. Case no. 1436/04 – Hosam Zohadi Daoud Zahaika ShahinProsecution: Captain Hila YogevDefense: Fida KawarCharge: Conspiracy to cause deathType of hearing: pleading for sentence (there is a protocol) The defendant’s parents are present in the courtroom.We came to attend the reading of the sentence, which has been deferred from the previous week. We have been following the case for several months, with great interest. In the meantime, things got complicated due to another indictment.The defense asks for a deferral. “It does not stand to reason that the reading of the new indictment take place simultaneously with the reading of the sentence on a prior one. The new case concerns facts and charges unrelated to the indictment before us, neither in regard to witnesses nor to essence. There is no connection between these two indictments, a new situation has arisen and we have to study the whole case.” He requests a deferral so as to be able to study the other case. At present he does not know the nature of the offense. Wants to explore all the possibilities offered by the prosecution, hence agrees to remand beyond two years.The hearing on pleading for sentence will take place on Tuesday, 20.2.07 Case no. 5466/06 – Ramzi Muhmed Abed Elhamid Abadia3 judges: Major Ronen Atsmon, Major Yair Tirosh, Major Dahlia KaufmannProsecution: Cptn. Hila YogevDefense: Visam FalahCharge: Causing deathType of hearing: ReminderWe have the protocol and the indictment comprising of 16 charges (!!!), 8 of which are intentionally causing death (7 items refer to killing collaborators with Israel and one refers to killing an Israeli civilian on his way to Ramallah). He is also charged with: Attempt to inflict death (in one case firing at Israeli soldiers, in another attempt to kill a collaborator); membership and activity in an illegal organization (the El Aktza-dead battalions); holding office in an illegal organization (was the head of the El Aktza-dead battalions in Ramallah and, among other things, acting as intermediary between this organization and the Palestinian Authority, and in charge of the security committee of the organization); security offenses in the area (suggested to commit suicide bombing to somebody who accepted it); kidnapping under aggravating circumstances (of a man suspected of collaboration and drug abuse); trading in military equipment; and possession of ammunition. The offenses he is charged with were committed between 1996 and 2006 (he was arrested on 21.8.06).The defense attorney says that his client does not recognize the authority of the Israeli Court to judge him on offenses, which, according to him, are an internal matter of the Palestinian Authority. The testimony, given by a man who was arrested in the meantime, shows that not only Ramzi Abadia had not been active in killing the Israeli, Mark Gabrielov, but, on the contrary, tried to prevent the killing. Consequently, the prosecution requests amendment of the indictment, so that “intentionally causing death” is changed to “manslaughter”.Today the prosecution asks for a week to submit the amended indictment.The arraignment was set for Tuesday, 30.1.07, at 13:00