Saturday, November 12, 2005
Rabin assassin demands new trial
Rabin assassin demands new trial
Pnina Guy, the original prosecutor, was discussing the 10th anniversary of Rabin's death when she expressed surprise that the assassin had managed to get so close as to press his gun to Rabin's body and fire at point blank range - closer than Amir ever came.
"It's still a mystery to me how he managed to shoot three bullets and at the same time even approach Rabin, and, according to the ballistic evidence, actually touch Rabin's jacket for the third bullet," she said on an Israeli radio station this week.
According to his family, Ms Guy's statement came as a shock to Amir - an ultra-Right wing extremist who said he had killed Rabin because he was betraying the Israeli people by preparing to exchange land for peace with the Palestinians.
"This is new evidence and my brother has never heard this before," Amir's brother Amitai told the Sunday Telegraph.
"The prosecutor says the bullet which killed Rabin was fired at point blank range, but Yigal never got that far. He couldn't get so close. Now he wants an appeal on this basis."
The appeal demand has infuriated Israelis across the political spectrum, who regard Amir as a fanatic who deserves to be locked up for life. Last week Israel's President, Moshe Katsav, insisted that he would never grant a pardon to Amir. "Amir is a villain. He shall not be pardoned, there is no cause for compassion or pity."
