Days of Palestine – Gaza
The Hamas Movement has denounced the Israeli occupation police’s decision to level a charge of unintentional murder against their officer who shot and killed an unarmed Palestinian young man with autism in Occupied Jerusalem on May 30.
In press remarks on Thursday, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qasem described the decision as “an assertion that all the Zionist regime’s apparatuses are accomplices in the commission of crimes against the Palestinian people.”
“Such decision is not new to the occupation institutions, which are known for exonerating the murderers. They have already acquitted all those who committed massacres against out people,” spokesman Qasem said.
“The crime of killing al-Hallaq, who had an autism disorder, has confirmed the [Israeli] occupation’s sadism,” he added.
The spokesman urged all competent international organizations to take action to hold accountable the Israeli regime and its officials who issue orders to kill defenseless Palestinians.
“The occupation, with its aggressive and criminal behavior, will continue to commit crimes against our people as long as it feels that it is above international law,” the Hamas spokesman warned.
Israeli prosecutors on Wednesday recommended charging a police officer with reckless manslaughter in the deadly shooting of Eyad al-Hallaq, an autistic Palestinian man, in Jerusalem’s Old City.
Hallaq, who was 32, was fatally shot in the Old City on May 30 as he was on his way to a special-needs institution.
The decision came nearly five months after the shooting of Hallaq. His family, who criticized the slow pace of the investigation and prosecutors’ claim that the many security cameras in the area had malfunctioned, condemned Wednesday’s decision. They said prosecutors should have filed much tougher charges.
The commander of the killer officer, who was also at the scene of the shooting, was not charged.
Khairi al-Hallaq, the victim’s father, said Wednesday that he believed prosecutors had recommended an unintentional manslaughter charge only because the shooter was a Jew and the victim an Arab. Had it been the reverse, he said, the authorities would have urged a murder charge.
He also complained that the commanding officer on the scene, who was closely involved, had been cleared.
Shortlink for this post: https://daysofpalestine.ps/?p=8194
