Court finds two Israeli minors guilty of burning to death Mohammed Abu Khdeir but delays ruling over the accused ringleader, Yosef Haim Ben David, 31
Two Israeli youths who kidnapped, beat and burned to death Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir last year, have been found guilty of murder.
The court, however, accepted a petition from lawyers for the accused ringleader – Yosef Haim Ben David, 31 – to reconsider a claim of insanity.
The panel of three judges acknowledged in their ruling that Ben David had committed the murder but said he could not be convicted at this time because of his mental state, setting a new sentencing hearing in January.
Mohammed’s father, Hussein, denounced the verdict, telling Israeli Army Radio that the trial was “a lie”.
The two minors, whose names have not been released, were convicted after a lengthy trial of kidnapping the 16-year-old last July and killing him in the Jerusalem Forest.
The killing took place shortly after three Jewish youths, who had been kidnapped in the West Bank, were found murdered near Hebron.
The case prompted serious disturbances last year as details emerged of the Palestinian boy’s murder, prompting international condemnation.
The three were arrested a few days after the killing and admitted to it, re-enacting the murder in the forest where his body was found.
Amid the outcry over the killing, Israel recognised Mohammed as a victim of terrorism.
Earlier in the case at Jerusalem district court, an attempt by Ben David’s legal team to claim insanity was rejected after the court ruled no evidence of insanity had been produced.
But on Thursday, Ben David’s lawyer submitted a psychiatric evaluation claiming again that he was not responsible for his actions at the time of the murder. The prosecution had argued that Ben David was responsible for his acts and fit to stand trial.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/30/mohammed-abu-khdeir-israeli-youths-guilty-of-murder-after-palestinian-teenager-was-burned-to-death
