Rabbis support campaign to fund Ben Uliel’s Supreme Court appeal

Monday, September 14, 2020, 21:03 On Monday, September 14, Amiram Ben Uliel’s wife, Orian, together with his family, friends, supporters and Honenu, launched a crowd funding campaign to finance an appeal to the Supreme Court in order to prove his innocence. Orian: “The judges [on the Central District Court in Lod panel] did not seek either justice or truth. They decided to convict my husband at any cost. Despite everything that we proved, despite all of the findings at the scene of the crime, and despite all of the evidence which indicates that my husband did not do it, they convicted him. “We have not given up. We are going to fight this. We are preparing an appeal to the Supreme Court to prove my husband’s innocence. The judges have sent an innocent man to prison. I do not know how they sleep at night and how they can even be called judges.”
As part of the launch, in an emotional video, Orian, with her daughter, who until now has not been seen in any photographs or videos, describes Amiram’s detention, levels criticism at the court, talks about the isolation of her husband in prison, decries the injustice of the case, and announces the campaign to prove the innocence of her husband. To that end, a dedicated team of first-rate attorneys is being formed for the specific purpose of appealing to the Supreme Court.

Orian and her daughter, Video credit: Asir Zion (See here for the Hebrew version.)

Dozens of leading rabbis from the entire range of the national-religious sector have come out in support of Amiram Ben Uliel, to whom the Central District Court in Lod handed down three life sentences. The rabbis have called on the public to assist the campaign in support of Ben Uliel and stated that his conviction on the basis of a confession extracted under extreme duress is unacceptable, and that is sufficient to release him. Among the rabbis are Rabbi Dov Lior, Rabbi Haim Drukman, Rabbi Meir Mazuz, Rabbi Tzvi Tau, Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, and Rabbi Simcha Shtatner
“‘And you will judge righteously’ (Deuteronomy 1:16) During the past few years we have been following with concern the trial of Amiram Ben Uliel in the case of the Kfar Duma arson. No-one disputes that Amiram’s confession, which is the only evidence against him, was extracted from him under torture, and also the court ruled thus. Convicting a man on the basis of such a confession is an unacceptable act according to Jewish law, according to the laws of the State of Israel, and in fact, according to all the countries of the world. This is sufficient to release him.”
The rabbis also expressed concern that an innocent man would be imprisoned and mentioned the great cost of his legal defense: “The concern that before our eyes the injustice of imprisoning an innocent man for his entire life is liable to occur gives us no rest. We have the obligation to assist in any way that we can for the sake of a just trial for Amiram. In preparation for the appeal to the Supreme Court a defense team of first-rate attorneys is being formed at a particularly great cost.”
In conclusion the rabbis called for support of the crowd funding campaign for Ben Uliel: “We call on the public to contribute generously, everyone according to individual ability, for this life-saving campaign.”
Attorneys Yitzhak Bam and Asher Ohayon are representing Amiram Ben Uliel: “Amiram’s future was determined when the court accepted as evidence his confession that was extracted under torture and his reenactment of the arson that was done when he feared that the torture would resume. The court’s verdict evades the deliberation which revealed contradictions between the content of [Ben Uliel’s] confession and the testimonies concerning the number of arsonists and the descriptions given by eyewitnesses in real time. Now the Supreme Court will have to give an opinion on these two issues.”
Since the July 2015 arson attack on the Dawabshe family’s house in Kfar Duma, Honenu has assisted many Jews accused of involvement with the crime. For a selection of posts describing Honenu Attorneys’ representation of defendants and GSS interrogatees, see here. To familiarize our readers with the case, Honenu has gathered – see here – various articles and short videos on the subject.