[Pnews] Israeli court convicts Palestinian child who was nearly beaten to death by mob

[Prisoner News]

http://imemc.org/article/israeli-court-convicts-palestinian-child-who-was-nearly-beaten-to-death-by-mob/ 



  Israeli court convicts Palestinian child who was nearly beaten to
  death by mob

May 12, 2016 Celine Hagbard <http://imemc.org/article/author/celinehagbard/>

A Palestinian child, Ahmad Manasra, 14, was convicted Tuesday of two 
counts of attempted murder, despite a lack of evidence, a video showing 
him being severely beaten and insulted by a crowd shouting racial slurs, 
and video showing Israeli interrogators brutalizing and intimidating the 
crying child with no family member or lawyer present.

Manasra was 13 at the time of his arrest, and the Israeli court decided 
to allow the prosecution’s request to delay his court hearing until 
January, when he turned 14 and was allowed, under Israeli law, to be 
tried as an adult. The Israeli Knesset used Manasra’s case as an example 
when they voted several months ago to change the age at which a 
Palestinian child can be tried as an adult from 14 to 12.

Israeli children, in contrast, are considered ‘minors’ until the age of 18.

Manasra’s lawyer, Lea Tsemel, said the ruling Tuesday was “surprising, 
unbalanced and problematic.” During sentencing, Manasra will face a 
likely sentence of 20 years to life in prison.

The child in this case, Ahmad Manasra, was severely beaten, hit by a 
car, and repeatedly kicked and punched in the head by an angry Israeli 
mob who believed that he had participated in a stabbing in which a 
13-year old Israeli boy was wounded.

However, Manasra and his lawyers contend that he had nothing to do with 
the stabbing, which was carried out by Manasra’s 15-year old cousin, who 
was killed at the scene of the attack.

Avideo posted online shows a group of men attacking Manasra 
<http://imemc.org/article/73371/>, cursing and using anti-Arab epithets 
against the boy.

An average of 700 Palestinian children are abducted by Israeli forces 
each year. Human rights groups have pointed out that over 90% of these 
children are subjected to brutal interrogation by Israeli officers with 
no family members or lawyer present.

In 2013, an Israeli government investigation looked at the disparate 
treatment between Palestinian and Israeli children accused of a crime. 
The Israeli paper Yedioth Ahranot reported in 2014, “The gap between the 
treatment of Israeli minors and minors living in the territories has to 
date led to endless international complaints, and numerous reports by 
the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. Israel responded to the 
criticism by establishing a year ago a committee headed by Raz Nazari, 
the deputy attorney general for the criminal division, who was tasked 
with exploring the possibility of finally establishing a special 
military tribunal for Palestinian youths in the territories.”

According to Yedioth Ahranoth, the investigation found discriminatory 
practices against Palestinian minors at every stage of their cases: from 
arrest, to interrogation, to assignment of lawyers, to family members 
being present, to hearings, to court rules, trials and sentences.

-- 
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