Following a bungled investigation into a case which shocked the nation, the Israel Defense Forces’ military counsel announced Tuesday morning that charges against 44-year-old Palestinian Authority resident Mahmoud Katusa were being dropped.
“The evidentiary basis for the indictment does not at this time amount to a ‘reasonable chance of conviction.’ Therefore, by law, the criminal process cannot continue, the indictment must be withdrawn and Katusa released from custody,” military prosecutor Sharon Afek said in a statement.
The announcement came almost two months after Katusa, a maintenance custodian at an unnamed girls’ school in Samaria, was arrested.
Katusa was charged with dragging the young girl to a vacant building in the town and violently assaulting her while two of his friends held her down.
However, the case began to unravel as it was revealed that police investigators had collected almost no forensic evidence, and that the site and date of the attack were unclear.
Last week, new investigators were assigned in an effort to verify the girl’s testimony against Katusa. Investigators searched the girl’s home and seized her clothing in an effort to locate DNA evidence.
An anonymous official connected to the investigation was cited by The Times of Israel as saying it took over two months for police to search the family’s home, and that the girl had only been able to positively identify Katusa after her mother arrived at the school and pointed at him.
Additionally, a polygraph test failed by Katusa was revealed to have been conducted in Hebrew, rather than in the suspect’s native Arabic.
Afek said the investigation would continue against Katusa, as well as being expanded into “additional directions.”
(JNS)
{Matzav.com}
It is impossible to understand what happened from the little info we have. If he indeed has been wrongfully accused, that is a despicable and very serious crime too. Especially so if the perpetrators are to be found in “additional directions”.
Very possible the parents decided to drop the charges to protect the child’s name for … shidduchim.
8:36, everyone in her school knows who the victim is. The parents didn’t drop the charges; it was the judenrat police that sabotaged the investigation. Your comment is a living proof to why assume is spelled this way.
Unfortunately I went to public school and so I understand your “subtle” grammar statement. Are you not embarrassed?
Other sites point out that the family celebrated with such things as waving Palestinian flags.
9:03, be specific, whose family? You must be referring to the islamonazi family, not the victim’s family.
So the Judenrat sabotaged the investigation so that the islamonazi terrorism can be swiped under the rug. The Judenrat’s objective is to rule over the docile and obedient Jews, not to keep Jews safe from the islamonazis. In order to appease the dumb Jewish population, it is much easier to claim there is no terrorism than to fight terrorism. There had to be an independent investigation into conspiracy to obstruct justice, and the involved judenrat military/police/shabak brass should be charged with treason. The Judenrat is more destructive than Arabs.
I don’t get what people are so upset about; assuming what is written here is basically true (I’m sure it’s not 100% true because these type of things never are) what are you expecting? That the suspect continues to be held as the investigation continues? That Israel adopt the American style witch trial justice that an accusation of this nature is always believed unless proven absolutely impossibly false (and even then doubt remains)
Other than your personal biases, what evidence do you have to believe that things should be dealt with differently here?
12:51, there are two facts: the girl was physically damaged, the girl identified her attacker. That should be enough evidence for the case to proceed, and then the defense can try to blow holes when in court, but their chance of getting non-guilty verdict would be very low in a non kangaroo-judenrat-court. But of course, it’s not your daughter who was hurt, so you get all selectively righteous, you traitor.
You are one hundred percent correct that most American courts would convict someone based on a he said/ she said accusation. The defense can show holes in court, but their chance of getting a non-guilty verdict would still be very low.
I won’t stoop to calling you names but I will say that I see something very wrong with that type of”justice” system
On Shabbos, when (presumably) you can’t use a computer, do you stand on street corners yelling “Judenrat!” at random passersby or is that only a compulsion when seated in front of a keyboard?