Ahed Tamimi's lawyer: There was never a chance for a fair trial
"The trial was a show trial, because clearly we have a case here where the whole military system mobilized against a young girl who was only 16 when she was arrested."
By JULIANE HELMHOLDUpdated: MARCH 22, 2018 13:51Ahed Tamimi (center) enters a military courtroom at Ofer Prison near Ramallah on New Year’s Day.(photo credit: AMMAR AWAD/REUTERS)
There was never any chance of a fair trial for Ahed Tamimi, the Palestinian teen's defense lawyer commented on Army Radio on Thursday morning.Ahed Tamimi"s lawyer and father lash out against decision to try the Palestinian teen behind closed doors, February 13, 2018. (Reuters)Asked why she recommended that her client accept the deal of by the IDF West Bank prosecution, attorney Gaby Lasky said that "When the court decided to carry out Ahed's trial behind closed doors, after a lot of discussions had taken place in the public already, we understood that there was no chance that Ahed would receive a fair trial. Because of the way the trial was handled by the legal system, we thought that this was the best way forward."Tamimi was charged with violence against Israeli security forces, and can be seen in a December video pushing and kicking two soldiers. The video evoked polarized reactions, with much of the Israeli camp expressing outrage that she and her cousin were not arrested on the spot, and much of the Palestinian camp cheering her aggressive resistance of what they view as Israeli occupation.On Wednesday, The IDF West Bank prosecution and lawyers for Ahed Tamimi reached a plea deal which will see her serve a total of 8 months in prison. The deal is not final, as it has not yet been approved by the IDF West Bank Court, but if it goes through, Tamimi will serve about five more months, since she has already served around three months in pre-trial detention.In Thursday's interview, Lasky suggested that, if the trial had been carried out correctly, Tamimi would have been released after a few days of pre-trial detention, like other family members who were arrested in the same incident."The trial was a show trial, because clearly we have a case here where the whole military system mobilized against a young girl who was only 16 when she was arrested," Lasky emphasized. "We see what we see in the clip but still, when we hear the crazy message that Ahed's cousin Muhammad, who was shot in the head, fell off his bike and was hurt by the handles of his bike... then we see that there is much more than what happened in the clip."Muhammad Tamimi was allegedly shot in the head during a riot and then underwent surgery, in which the rubber bullet and a portion of his skull were removed. Ahed has said that the infamous video shows her confronting soldiers while she was upset about Muhammed being shot.The Tamimi family turned to the media on February 27 to dispute the army’s claim that their 15-year-old son Muhammad had been injured in a bicycle accident and had not been shot in the head by an IDF rubber bullet as they contended.Yonah Jeremy Bob and Tova Lazaroff contributed to this report.
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