Arab convicted of rape appeals

Sabbar Kashur sentenced for rape by deception after posing as a Jew.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
rape victim illustrative 311 (photo credit: John L. White / South Florida Sun-Sentinel / MCT)
rape victim illustrative 311
(photo credit: John L. White / South Florida Sun-Sentinel / MCT)
Sabbar Kashur, 30, who was sentenced last week to 18 months in prison as part of a plea bargain for rape by deception, appealed his sentence to the High Court of Justice on Thursday.
Kashur met a Jewish woman in downtown Jerusalem in 2008 and introduced himself as a Jewish bachelor seeking a serious relationship, the indictment said, according to media reports. The couple then went to a nearby building and had consensual sexual intercourse; Kashur then left.
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The woman filed a complaint after realizing that Kashur was not Jewish.
The court ruled that the consent for sex was obtained under false pretenses.
In the appeal Kashur's attorney's claimed that his punishment caused a major stir all over the world and as a result of it the legal system was accused of racism.
His lawyer Elkana Leiset, a public defender, claims that the district court exaggerated in their sentencing.
His defender said that the district court didn't take into account the fact mere minutes passed between the initial meeting and the lie and the sexual act.
"It's hard to believe that someone who had sex minutes after she first met her partner did so on the basis of him saying he was interested in a serious relationship."