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STORY: GENEVA / ISRAELI SOLDIER
TRT: 01:23
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 24 FEBRUARY 2017, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
FILE - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, Palais des Nations
24 FEBRUARY 2017, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“We are deeply disturbed at the lenient sentence that has been given by the Tel Aviv Military Court earlier this week to an Israeli soldier who was convicted of unlawfully killing a wounded Palestinian in an apparent extrajudicial execution of an unarmed man who clearly posed no imminent threat.”
4. Close up, journalist
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Although manslaughter carries a maximum punishment of 20 years, Sergeant Azaria was sentenced to only 18 months in prison and a demotion”.
6. Wide shot, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson, United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“While the prosecution and conviction are very welcome steps towards accountability, the punishment, which is excessively lenient, is difficult to reconcile with the intentional killing of an unarmed and prone individual. It also stands in contrast to the sentences handed down by other Israeli courts for other less serious offences, notably the sentencing of Palestinian children to more than three years' imprisonment for throwing stones at cars. This case risks undermining confidence in the justice system and reinforcing the culture of impunity."
8. Various shots, journalists
The United Nations human rights office (OHCHR) said today (24 Feb) it was “deeply disturbed at the lenient sentence” handed down to an Israeli soldier who killed an unarmed and wounded Palestinian.
Sergeant Elor Azaria was convicted by the Tel Aviv Military Court earlier this week of manslaughter in January 2017 for shooting dead Abdelfattah al-Sharif in Hebron in March 2016. According to OHCHR, Al-Sharif was unarmed and lying wounded on the ground after having been shot for stabbing and wounding an Israeli soldier. Speaking to reporters in Geneva, OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said the killing was “an apparent extrajudicial execution of an unarmed man who clearly posed no imminent threat.”
Shamdasani said the soldier was sentenced to only 18 months in prison and demoted for his action despite manslaughter carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years. OHCHR said that more than 200 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli security forces since the most recent upsurge in violence began in the West Bank in September 2015. Sergeant Azaria is the only member of the Israeli security forces to have been brought to trial for such a killing.
Shamdasani welcomed the prosecution and conviction as “steps towards accountability” but added that the punishment was “reconcile with the intentional killing of an unarmed and prone individual.” She said the sentence also stood in contrast to sentences handed down by other Israeli courts for other less serious offences, “notably the sentencing of Palestinian children to more than three years' imprisonment for throwing stones at cars.” She stressed that Azaria’s case risked “undermining confidence in the justice system and reinforcing the culture of impunity."
