A trial will be held this coming Monday at the Jerusalem District Court for Khaled Kutina, the Arab terrorist who murdered Shalom Yochai Sherki last April in a horrific car attack.
Sherki, the son of famous national religious Rabbi Uri Sherki, was murdered in the attack as he waited at a bus stop in Jerusalem’s northeastern French Hill neighborhood with Shira Klein, who was also wounded and later released from the hospital.
The murderer, a resident of Jerusalem’s northern Anata neighborhood, admitted under questioning to purposely running over the Jewish couple on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day.
In a frustrated Facebook post on Thursday, Sherki’s brother Yair, a reporter with Channel 2, called on the public to come take part in the upcoming trial.
“The terrorist who murdered my brother Shalom will arrive this coming Monday to the court armed with the opinion of a private psychiatrist ruling that he wasn’t responsible for his actions,” wrote Yair Sherki.
“The defense line has already zigzagged wildly for several months between the claim that it was an accident, to a version in which he ‘only’ intended to wound and not kill, and of course the most convenient story: he is mentally ill and was not responsible for his actions.”
“Nearly ten months have passed since the murder.”
No public interest?
The bereaved brother said of the terrorist that “just now his lawyers, after receiving postponement after postponement and another one from the judges, thought to bring a (psychiatrist’s) opinion.”
“By the way, under questioning he told the police officers and Shabak (Israeli Security Agency – ed.) members in detail how he planned to take revenge on Jews, and even explained to them that in the beginning he ‘tried to pretend to be an idiot’ in order to avoid punishment. Now he’s gone back to that line.”
Sherki noted that on Thursday he received an update regarding the coming week’s schedule from the court’s spokesperson, as he does every week.
“I opened the Jerusalem District Court’s file, thinking I’d find this trial on the list, because maybe there’s public interest in the attempt of a terrorist to evade justice.”
“Instead of that, I found two other cases: the sentencing of the murderers of the youth Mohammed Abu Khdeir, and the sentencing of two youths who sprayed slogans (yes, graffiti) against the Arab sector. These were the only trials of public interest that were sent to journalists.”
Sherki noted, “I don’t take the seriousness of those cases lightly, and I also understand the difference between another evidentiary hearing and sentencing with a bottom line.”
“And yet, maybe it should be clarified, with action, that this case also has public interest. Before a hall of watching eyes, the judges will be sharper and will stop dragging the prosecutors’ legs.”
Expanding his call for the public to attend the hearing, he added that a greater turnout would naturally cause the attorney’s to try harder and come better prepared.
“Maybe before a large crowd even the court guards will make sure that the hearings in this murder case do not turn into the site of a meeting between the terrorist and his family.”
“This coming Monday, 9:30 a.m. at the Jerusalem District Court. In the hall of Judge Yoram Noam. Come.”
