Defendant in Be'er Sheva lynch case convicted
Prosecution to seek months in prison for David Moyal, the first defendant to be convicted on trial for brutal lynch in the central bus station of an Eritrean man who was mistaken for terrorist.
David Moyal was convicted Wednesday for his part in a 2015 lynch of an innocent Eritrean man who—mistaken for a terrorist who had just carried out a deadly shooting attack—was shot and then brutally beaten in Be’er Sheva’s Central Bus Station by an enraged mob.
As part of a plea bargain, Moyal, a 31-year-old resident of the southern city and one of four people indicted in the case, was convicted of abusing a helpless person.
Moyal, who was indicted for causing intentional aggravated injury, was filmed slamming a bench on the the victim, Haftom Zarhum, while he was helplessly lying on the floor.
The trial of the other three defendants—IDF soldier Yaakov Shimba, Evyatar Dimri, and Israel Prison Service Officer Ronen Cohen, is still ongoing.
As part of the plea bargain, the State Attorney's Office will petition for a few months in prison, on condition that Moyal is found fit to serve the punishment. They will also seek symbolic compensation for the deceased's family.
The incident took place at the height of what became known as Israel's 'wave of terror' when a terrorist from Hura in the Negev snatched an M-16 assault rifle from IDF soldier Sergeant Omri Levy, which he used to open fire, murdering the soldier and wounding nine others, several of them members of Israel's security forces.
At the end of 2017, the presiding judge in the case sought to clarify reports that claimed he had decided not to consider footage of the murder captured on camera.
The Be’er Sheva District Court judge said that he had not rejected the footage as evidence, but rather had opted to delay discussions on its content until both the prosecution and defense teams had fully formulated their cases, which had yet to be completed due to legal technicalities.
