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Soldier jailed for activist death

An Israeli ex-soldier who killed UK peace activist Tom Hurndall in the Gaza Strip has been jailed for eight years.
Ex-sergeant Taysir Hayb was convicted of manslaughter at an Israeli military court in June for shooting Mr Hurndall, of north London, in April 2003.

He was sentenced to seven years for manslaughter and one year for obstruction of justice.

Mr Hurndall, 22, was involved in protests against the Israeli military in the Palestinian town of Rafah.

He died nine months after the shooting.

Hayb's conviction follows a lengthy campaign by Mr Hurndall's family.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4140586.stm
 
Smacks of 'scapegoat' to me, he's also apparently an Arab Muslim not Jewish. He did recently deliver a lovely high kick right into the face of some reporter though.
 
PTP beat me to the punch on this ...the key point in the Beeb article which was not quoted is


Family's 'determination'

Amnesty International's Kate Allen said that while the person responsible for Mr Hurndall's death had been brought to justice, it was "striking that this was almost entirely due to tireless campaigning by his family".

"The strong suspicion is that if Mr Hurndall's family had not shown utter determination to uncover the truth of their son's death, then no-one would ever have faced justice for what happened to Tom," she said.

UK Foreign Office minister Ian Pearson said the government welcomed Hayb's conviction.

He said: "We hope that the Hurndall family will draw some comfort from the conviction and sentencing of Hayb today for the unlawful death of their son."

Mr Hurndall, a Manchester Metropolitan University journalism and photography student, was in the Gaza Strip with the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement, which aims to oppose Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories by non-violent means.

According to witnesses, Mr Hurndall was shot in the head as he acted as a human shield, escorting children away from gunfire. The court heard Hayb fired at him from an Israeli army watchtower, using a sniper rifle with a telescopic sight.

The Israeli army initially disputed this account.


But, under pressure from Mr Hurndall's family and the British government, it ordered a full investigation which led to Hayb's indictment.

As well as manslaughter, Hayb was found guilty of obstruction of justice, incitement to false testimony, false testimony and improper conduct.

How many years did a British court give Pte Lee Clegg for the joyrider shooting , before his appeal ?
How many years will the killers of Baha Moussa face ?

As an MP commented at the time:
...about the Clegg case. As a former Territorial Army officer and someone who was privileged to serve for a while in the Parachute Regiment, I have to say that there are aspects of the case that leave me deeply troubled. I know that I was not there, but it seems extraordinary that a junior rank should be charged with and convicted of perverting the course of justice, when an officer who was present at the time was not even disciplined.


I had to give a wry smile at the opening line " The EX soldier..."....he was damn straight serving IDF when the murder was committed.

Still, before Arik and LWM get on my case, I acknowledge that Israel has at least prosecuted and convicted the guy.

Good result....overdue.

Le Chevre
 
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