http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3707093,00.html Crime and Punishment
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Bedouin rapists get off easy due to 'reconciliation' between families
Three men receive just 10-33 month sentences after repeatedly raping young Bedouin woman
Ilana Curiel
Published: 04.26.09, 22:47 / Israel News
A plea bargain granting three convicted rapists jail sentences of just 10-33 months was approved by Beersheba's District Court Sunday.
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The prosecution offered the defendants the bargain after 'reconciliation' was declared between their families and that of their Bedouin victim.
"The plaintiff is currently married and has no interest in coming to testify in court," explained a representative for the prosecution. "There has been reconciliation between the families involved, so she is not interested in financial compensation."
The original indictment against A, a 29-year old resident of the Bedouin village of Kseife, charged him with rape, sodomy, kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit a felony. The other two defendants, M and H, also 29 from Kseife, were charged with grave sexual offenses.
The indictment says A and his two friends planned to kidnap the young Bedouin woman, whom he knew, in order to rape her. He rented a room in Arad prior to the scheduled date and led her there, where he raped her numerous times.
Then, according to the indictment, his two friends arrived and A told the young woman he would drive her wherever she wanted to go. Instead he drove her to a secluded area while M and H followed in a different car.
The young woman, sensing something was wrong, fled the scene towards a main road and attempted to flag down passing soldiers, to no avail. She was taken back to the secluded area and was raped by M and violated by H while being filmed on a cellular phone. H told her he would make the film public if she told anyone what had happened, according to the indictment.
During the trial the woman was kept apart from her family by police, in order to prevent family members from murdering her for "desecrating the family's honor".
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The plea bargain offered by the prosecution charges A with performance of an indecent act, and the other charges were erased. M and H were charged with performance of an indecent act, imprisonment, assault, and threat.
The three-judge panel that presided over the case, consisting entirely of women, sentenced A to 10 months in prison, M to 33 months, and H to 29 months.
The attorneys representing the defendants expressed satisfaction and said they believed the punishment was just and balanced.
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