GENEVA (Reuters) – The United Nations’ human rights office said on Friday that an 18-month sentence handed down to an Israeli soldier for killing a wounded and unarmed Palestinian was “excessively lenient” and “unacceptable”.
“This case risks undermining confidence in the justice system and reinforcing the culture of impunity,” U.N. human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told a news briefing in Geneva.
The soldier, who killed a wounded and incapacitated Palestinian assailant in March 2016, was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment on Tuesday, in a show of leniency that drew Palestinian outrage after one of the most divisive trials in Israel’s history.
Source – Reuters