Atty. Bleicher (L) with members of the Bisset family; Photo credit: Honenu
Please click here for a list of posts relating to the mid-May Arab rioting throughout Israel.
Monday, August 30, 2021, 14:04 Destau Bisset, z”l, age 74, was run over by two Arabs riding electric bicycles in Ramle in May and succumbed to his injuries approximately three weeks later. Eyewitnesses to the incident stated that the cyclists intentionally collided with Bisset, attempted to run over people waiting at a bus station and then fled the scene. In late July, the police detained a 16-year-old suspected of the murder, but to the dismay of the family, released him after approximately one week of remand. See here and here for more details.
Another suspect has been detained, and his remand has been extended. Prior to the court’s decision, the Bisset family expressed their determination to see justice done: “Just now, the Israeli Police informed us that they have detained another suspect, a 19-year-old member of a minority group, over the murder of our father, Destau Bisset, Hy”d, who was murdered during the severe rioting in mixed cities. The entire time, we acted to assist the police to do their job properly.
“We hope that this time the detained suspect will be investigated by all of the authorities, thoroughly interrogated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. We will be there to verify that that happens.”
The Rishon LeTzion Magistrates Court extended the remand of Iman Abu Sif, a 19-year-old youth suspected of the voluntary manslaughter of Destau Bisset, z”l, in Ramle during Operation Guardian of the Walls. Abu Sif is being charged with either voluntary manslaughter or negligent homicide and also with conspiring to commit a crime. Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher welcomed the remand extension, but also objected to the use by the police of the term “traffic accident” to describe the incident.
In his decision, Judge Tal Aner wrote that, “I have been convinced that there is a reasonable suspicion that the suspect carried out the crimes attributed to him. Concerning the grounds for the detention it seems that there is no need to elaborate in light of the serious outcome of the incident.”
Bisset’s family: “We are disappointed and dismayed that the police chose to use the term ‘traffic accident’, whereas the case is being investigated as a murder. This announcement by the police hurt us deeply. As it is, every day, we are coping with the murder of our father that was carried out in cold blood.
“The time for the police to synchronize themselves and do their job properly. We hope that this time all of the authorities will come together to investigate the suspects and thereby bring them to trial.”
Destau Bisset, Hy”d; Photo courtesy of the family
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, who is representing the family: “The incident in which Destau Bisset, Hy”d, was murdered was an intentional murder of a Jew and an abandonment of the victim wallowing in his own blood. We thank the police for detaining the suspect, even though it was much delayed, and we hope that this time the police have succeeded in apprehending the murderer and that he will be put on trial soon.
“The announcement by the police spokesperson, which used the term ‘traffic accident’, is regrettable. Despite that, the suspect was detained on suspicion of murder. We ask that all the law enforcement authorities treat the murder with utmost gravity, with all the associated meanings, and stop word laundering. The time has come to learn from the failures in conducting the investigation, from the beginning, and to give the proper attention to acts of violence against Jews, out of an understanding that Arab Israeli citizens also can be terrorists who act with our enemies to injure Jews.”