ISRAEL: Israeli court indicts Israeli-French citizen on murder of Arab man in Tel Aviv

Record ID: 396656

  • Title: ISRAEL: Israeli court indicts Israeli-French citizen on murder of Arab man in Tel Aviv
  • Date: 28th May 2007
  • Summary: (EU) TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (MAY 28, 2007) (REUTERS) LAWYERS ENTERING COURT ROOM CLOSE OF COURT GUARD HOLDING HANDCUFFS AND DOCUMENTS OF THE SUSPECT VARIOUS OF JULIAN SOUFIR, INDICTED FOR MURDER OF ARAB MAN, SEATED IN COURT ROOM VARIOUS OF SOUFIR SMILING TO CAMERA, BLOWING KISSES IN AIR VARIOUS OF LAWYERS AND GUARDS IN COURT ROOM VARIOUS OF SOUFIR IN COURT (SOUNDBITE) (English)
  • Embargoed: 12th June 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Reuters ID: LVADLAO348JTMJHQ80BNDKDRLY5T
  • Story Text: Israeli court indicts Israeli French citizen on murder charges. Court orders Julian Soufir to undergo psychological evaluation. Soufir and his brother Jonathan are accused of killing 35-year-old Taysir Karaki, an Arab taxi driver from East Jerusalem.

    Tel Aviv District Court filed an indictment on Monday (May 28) against an Israeli - French citizen for the murder of an Arab taxi driver.
    Twenty-five year-old Julian Soufir, an Israeli who has a French citizenship, was charged with stabbing Taysir Karaki in the neck 24 times. The indictment said the Soufir may have been motivated by nationalistic and racial motives.
    Soufir appeared in court, smiling to the cameras and blowing kisses in the air. The court ordered Soufir to undergo a psychological evaluation.
    "The court sent the suspect to the mental hospital, the psychiatrists there will decide if he is mentally ill or not. If he is mentally ill they'll set him free and after that he will be sent to mental hospital," Soufir's lawyer told Reuters.
    Israeli police arrested Julian and his 23-year-old brother Jonathan in Tel Aviv for killing a 35-year-old Arab man, a resident of East Jerusalem.
    The men told the officers they had killed a man and led them to an apartment, where Karaki's body was found. Police then arrested the two. The bothers confessed to killing the man for nationalistic reasons.
    The killing came on the day Palestinians across the West Bank and Gaza marked the 59th anniversary of what they call the "Nakba" or "Great Catastrophe," when Israel was established. It's also the day Israelis marked the 40th anniversary of the annexation of East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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