Cii Radio|Ayesha Ismail|08 May 2018| 21 Shabaan 1439
An Israeli soldier who shot a wounded Palestinian in the head was freed from prison on Tuesday, after serving nine months of a jail sentence, the army said.
Elor Azaria was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison for killing Abdul Fatah al-Sharif in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron.
The Israeli armed forces chief of staff, Gadi Eisenkot, however, later reduced the term by four months and in March a parole board ordered a further cut.
The army had previously said that Azaria was due to be released on May 10.
Israeli media said he was freed two days early from Tzrifim military prison, near Tel Aviv, to allow him to attend his brother’s wedding.
“I can confirm that he was released,” an army spokesman told AFP on Tuesday.
Prisoners in Israel often have their sentences cut by a third for good behaviour.
Azaria, who was 19 at the time of the 2016 shooting, began serving his sentence in August.
A video released by B’Tselem, an Israeli NGO that documents human rights violations against Palestinians, showed Azaria shooting Sharif in the head without any apparent provocation.
Azaria said that at the time he “feared Al-Sharif was wearing an explosive belt and could blow himself up,” a claim judges rejected.
Israel detained Sharif’s body for almost two months, preventing his family from burying him according to Muslim tradition.
The trial captivated Israel and highlighted deep divisions in public opinion between those who denounced the shooting and others who said it was justified.
Senior army officers strongly denounced Azaria’s actions, but right-wing politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called for him to be pardoned.
Top military brass strongly denounced Azaria’s actions, but right-wing politicians, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called for him to be pardoned.
Last year, Israeli President, Reuven Rivlin, rejected a request to pardon a soldier convicted of manslaughter for shooting dead a Palestinian man.
A statement by Rivlin’s office confirmed that it had formally rejected the pardon for Elor Azaria.
“President Reuven Rivlin today took the decision to deny the request for pardon filed by Elor Azaria,” it said in an English-language statement, exactly one month after the jailed soldier submitted the request.
Source – MEE
