Mor Janashvilli (seated in wheelchair) and his brother; Photo credit: Honenu
Please click here for a list of posts relating to the mid-May Arab rioting throughout Israel and here for a list of posts relating to cases in which Honenu has represented victims of rock or Molotov cocktail attacks.
Tuesday, August 17, 2021, 20:25 Haifa District Court Judge Nitzan Silman authorized the release of Adham Bashir, of one of the perpetrators of the attempted murder of Mor Janashvilli in Acco during Operation Guardian of the Walls, to house arrest with an electronic anklet. Bashir was charged with aggravated assault and rioting. However, Judge Silman stated that he did not physically injure Janashvilli, but rather only threw rocks and shattered a car window. This statement contradicts a decision by the Supreme Court that in the case of an attempted murder by a furious mob, one must not be overly precise regarding the role of each participant.
Mor Janashvilli objected to the decision: “I am extremely hurt and shocked by the decision to release to house arrest one of the two central defendants in the case. … I regularly arrive in court because I want to believe that justice will be done and that I will be disproved that there is no justice. I attempt to speak in court, and I do not have the right to speak and to make myself heard. Who am I? Another victim who almost paid with his life for the Land of Israel, another Jew.”
Janashvilli added that he feels that the message that the court is sending is “that Jewish blood is cheap. It pays to injure and murder Jews out of racism and ideology. The police are not succeeding in locating most of the terrorists, and when they do locate them, they handle them with kid gloves and not how terrorists should be handled. Someone needs to wake up here and now. The message coming from here is worrisome and shocking. I demand that the Attorney General’s office and the court prosecute the terrorists to the full extent of the law. The defendant must be behind bars until the end of proceedings.”
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher leveled criticism at the decision: “The terrorist, whose motive was nationalistic, was an active participant in a mob that attempted to murder a Jew, who was left on the brink of death and remains severely disabled. That is more than enough to understand the level of danger that the terrorist poses and the urgent need to keep him behind bars for many years. His release constitutes an injury to the security of Israeli citizens and sends a message of weakness regarding terror and terrorists. We expect the Attorney General’s office to appeal the decision with the Supreme Court.”