Please click here for a list of posts relating to the mid-May Arab rioting throughout Israel and click here for a list of posts relating to cases in which Honenu has represented victims of rock or Molotov cocktail attacks.
Tuesday, March 22, 2022, 9:17 On Monday, March 21, the Haifa District Court sentenced Bilal Hiluani to an active prison term and also handed down a suspended sentence. Hiluani took part in the terror attack on Mor Janashvilli in Acco on May 12, 2021, during Operation Guardian of the Walls and was convicted of rioting. He admitted to the charges attributed to him in the amended indictment: that he had caused a frenzy by calling out to an incited mob that Janashvilli had run over one of the participants in the attack.
In the sentence that they handed down to Hiluani, Judges Lifshitz, Zeigler and Mandelbaum wrote, “There is no dispute regarding the severity of the acts of the defendant. The rioting in which he took part was nationalistically-racially motivated.”
The court also convicted Adham Bashir, another participant in the terror attack who admitted to the charges against him, of aggravated assault in an act of terror, attempted assault in an act of terror, and rioting. A penalty hearing in his case has been scheduled for July.
After the hearing, Janashvilli, who has been dependent on a wheelchair for mobility since the attack, said that he comes to his attackers’ hearings and “leaves with mixed feelings. On one hand, there is a feeling of relief, and on the other, a feeling that the sentence is lacking. From my point of view, there is relief because the terrorists wanted to have the upper hand. They thought that he [Hiluani] wouldn’t be sentenced, and, thank G-d, the court gave a year’s imprisonment, an active prison term. On the other hand, we hoped that he would be imprisoned for longer. As far as I am concerned, everyone who was at the attack was an active participant.
“I would like to thank Chayim [Bleicher] and Honenu, who were with us the entire time, as we passed every obstacle on this difficult path. It was not easy to arrive at this sentencing. If only justice will continue to be done. Jewish blood is not cheap, and the blood that was spilled here was not in vain. We will not be silent until justice is done.”
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, who is representing Janashvilli and has accompanied him to the hearings: “We are leaving the sentencing of a rioter who took part in the brutal attack on Mor. In the end, he was convicted only of rioting, but it is obvious that he took part in a nationalistically motivated attack. The rioters intended to injure or even murder every Jew who came across their path. Mor’s life was miraculously spared, but the damages are immense.
“We welcome the court’s sentencing of a year’s imprisonment for the rioter. This decision has meaning, and makes a statement that even though he was convicted only of rioting, he is considered to have taken part in the attack. However, one year is insufficient and we expect a terrorist who took part in a brutal attack to be imprisoned for many years. Under the existing circumstances we are pleased with the progress. The outcome of an active prison sentence for the terrorist is in large part thanks to the diligence of Mor in coming to the hearings, to speak and to show the judges the consequences of the brutal attack.”