Last defendant in Ze’evi murder case gets 30 years in prison
Jerusalem District Court finds Ahad Olma guilty of murder, terror affiliation for his part in 2001 assassination of tourism minister
The Jerusalem District Court convicted Ahad Olma, a senior Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) operative, for his part in the assassination of former Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi at Jerusalem's Hyatt hotel on October 17, 2001.
Olma, 40, who was the head of the PLFP's military wing at the time of the assassination, was also found guilty of membership in a terror organization.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment with an additional five years – 30 years overall.
According to the indictment, Olma did not take an active part in the assassination, but was one of its instigators. The State alleged that he attended the final few meetings ahead of the attack, in which the other members of the terror cell agreed on its final details.
Olma was the last operative prosecuted in the Ze’evi murder case. The other terror operatives implicated in the case, Basel al-Asmar, Hamdi Quran and Majdi Rahima Rimawi, were all found guilty of murder and sentenced to various prison terms.
Rimawi, who was considered the mastermind behind the attack, was sentenced to 105 years in prison.
