The recent refusal to allow a retrial of a convicted drug
dealer when evidence surfaced that the convict seeking a
retrial fabricated stories and documents in his favor has
called attention to Israeli judicial system's deep bias
toward self protection. According to an article in the
weekly magazine Jerusalem, even when there are very
solid claims in favor of a re-trial, the judicial system
refuses to give in. Indeed, just four re-trials have been
permitted since the beginning of the state. Former Supreme
Court Justice Chaim Cohen, sharply criticized the Justice
Ministry on this issue. "The opposition to re-trials stems
from the notion that the honor of the court depends on the
supposed immutability of its verdicts. This is a total
mistake. The honor of the court rests precisely on its
ability to rectify errors.
"If people fight for years and scream that they are innocent,
they must be given an additional chance to state their
claims," Cohen said. He pointed to the astonishing case of a
mistaken conviction which led to a re-trial, many years
ago.
"A deaf-mute was convicted of murder on the basis of a
confession extracted from him by a policeman who pretended to
understand sign language. After the sentencing, someone else
was found guilty of the murder."
Attorney Avigdor Feldman, who represents five people
convicted in an unclear case of murder, whose requests to
hold a re-trial have been dragged out for four years, has
charged that this policy causes those convicted to commit
desperate acts. He said that Yechiam Ochana--the man at the
center of the recent scandal-- was compelled to provide the
stories and false documents, because he knew that without
such a "scoop," no one would pay attention to his request to
examine the possibility of a re-trial.
Mr. Feldman claimed that one of his clients has already gone
insane due to the delay in granting him a retrial. "Every
day, people approach regarding sentences they received, and
ask me to represent them in re-trials. I tell them that they
are wasting their time, because no one will pay attention to
them," Mr. Feldman said.
Jerusalem, noted that the academic world also
criticizes the Attorney General's policy. Professor Mordechai
Kremnitzer, an expert on criminal law and a lecturer in the
Hebrew University, charged claims that the State Prosecutor
office is very "tight-fisted" in all that pertains to
granting re-trials.
"The court and the prosecution are motivated by the feeling
that they must them defend themselves, and that's a problem.
The prosecution who presented the indictment against the
accused and achieved a court conviction, must now recommend a
re-trial. The prosecutor feels that he is indebted to the
court, and therefore, makes very few recommendations for re-
trials."
Professor Kremnitzer pointed to an additional problem, which
involves gathering new investigative material. "Actually,
there is no one to collect the material. The police are not
the suitable body for that, because its functioning is often
directly attacked, and then it can't investigate itself. By
the same token, the police is the very body which collected
the initial evidence, and is thus a captive of its own
investigations."
The Justice Ministry's response to these charges is that
every request for a re-trial is carefully examined. According
to the law, re-trials are to be conducted only under specific
circumstances, which quite naturally are rare.
