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Family of slain Palestinian teen await lenient sentence for Israel border cop

January 11, 2018 at 12:24 pm

17-year-old Nadim Nawara who was shot dead by an Israeli border policeman [Defense for Children International – Palestine/Facebook]

The family of Nadim Nuwara, killed by an Israeli Border Police officer on 15 May 2014, are awaiting the sentencing of his convicted killer with no expectancy of justice.

According to various reports, Ben Deri, convicted of negligent homicide in a plea bargain, will finally be sentenced on 26 April.

At the Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday, Nuwara’s father, Siam, decried the lack of accountability.

“If Nadim had killed Ben Deri and was convicted of negligent homicide, would the court act the way it has with Ben Deri?” he told the court according to the Jerusalem Post.

READ: Israel killed 8 unarmed Palestinians in Gaza

The prosecution has requested that Deri be sentenced to between 20 to 27 months in prison. Deri admitted to firing at the Palestinian child’s chest, but claimed that he did not realise it was live ammunition, as opposed to a rubber-coated metal bullet.

Deri’s lawyer, meanwhile, told the court that a social worker had recommended community service. The prosecution has noted that Deri “has expressed no regret and taken no responsibility”.

As reported by +972 Magazine, “Nadim Nuwara, and another Palestinian teenager, Mohammed Abu Daher, were killed during an unarmed Nakba Day protest on May 15, 2014, in the Palestinian town of Beitunia, near Ramallah. Nadim was 16, and Mohammed, 17”.

In December of 2014, Deri was indicted for manslaughter in the shooting death of Nadim Nuwara, in a case that has seen “some 50 hearing delays, cancellations, the dismissal of the first judge due to personal connections with a witness, and the delayed appointment of the second judge”.