AG’s office retracts claims against border policeman

Monday, December 5, 2016, 20:20 On the evening of Monday, December 5, Channel 2 (Israel) announced that the Attorney General’s office had retracted its indictment of Ben Deri, a border policeman accused of killing an Arab rioter who threw rocks during protests near the Ofer Military Base on “Naqba Day” in May 2014.
After a dramatic legal struggle during which Ben Deri remained under stringent restrictions for over two years, the State of Israel retracted its indictment and the accusation it had maintained until today that Ben Deri had intentionally loaded a live bullet in his weapon’s magazine. The State reached an agreement with Ben Deri’s attorney, Tzion Amir, which states that the defendant believed that he was shooting rubber bullets and was completely unaware that a live bullet had been loaded, by means unknown to him, among the other bullets in his magazine.
After the retraction was publicized, Attorney Tzion Amir, who is representing Ben Deri on behalf of Honenu, stated that, “We are not going to formally respond until the final stage of the trial. Nonetheless we are satisfied with the fact that the Attorney General’s office has retracted its claims after two and a half years of trial.”