- Title: ISRAEL: Court jails Israeli Arab for Tel Aviv bus bomb
- Date: 10th March 2014
- Summary: TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (FILE) (REUTERS) POLICE CORDON AND EMERGENCY SERVICES ON SITE OF BUS BOMBING VARIOUS OF DAMAGED BUS
- Embargoed: 25th March 2014 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Israel
- Country: Israel
- Reuters ID: LVA91KQJF26FRVE3UDBJK65YC5BJ
- Story Text: An Israeli court on Monday (March 10) sentenced an Israeli-Arab to 25 years in prison for planting a bomb on a Tel Aviv bus during a 2012 cross-border war with the Palestinian Gaza Strip, the Justice Ministry said. Fifteen people were wounded in the attack.
Nineteen-year-old Mohammed Mafarja pleaded guilty in December to charges that included attempted murder. He was accused of working on behalf of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.
Mafarja's mother, Um Mohammed said her son was not a terrorist, and hoped he would be released soon.
"God-willing he will be able to go home. May God and my heart both be satisfied with him. He is not a terrorist, Mohammed is not a terrorist. Hopefully God will intervene," she said.
Labib Habib, Mafarja's lawyer, said the sentence was harsh, and that he would be appealing to the Supreme Court to demand a reduced sentence.
"The court's decision of a 25 year sentence is a very difficult and unjust sentence. The court did not take into account anything we presented to the court. It also did not take into account previous sentences and precedents of Jewish criminals who planted devices and bombed mosques, injuring innocent people - they were sentenced between 5 and 10 years. We will appeal to the Supreme Court," Habib said.
The bomb was detonated as the bus was passing near the Defence Ministry building in Tel Aviv on November 21, 2012, the last day of an eight-day war between Hamas and Israel. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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