Israeli court acquits police officer who killed autistic Palestinian

An Israeli court has acquitted a police officer of killing an unarmed Palestinian man with autism in occupied East Jerusalem's Old City.

Iyad Hallak, 32, was shot dead in May 2020 while walking in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem, after officers mistook him for an armed assailant.

The West Jerusalem district court said on Thursday the defendant was "acquitted" of "reckless homicide".

The court said the officer standing trial "made an honest mistake thinking he was dealing with an armed terrorist who posed a real danger", noting he had expressed "remorse" for the murder.

According to the court's decision, Hallak had allegedly aroused the suspicion of officers as he milled close to a border police position near occupied East Jerusalem's Old City.

The officers approached him and yelled at him to stop, causing Hallak to run away, the court added.

The defendant joined the chase and another officer shot towards the Palestinian's legs but missed, the court found.

Hallak then entered an alley, where the defendant shot and hit him in the leg. When he stood up and pointed at a woman he knew who had rushed to the scene, the defendant fatally shot him in the chest.

#PalestinianLivesMatter

Hallak's family had said he had the mental age of an eight-year-old, and witnesses said Hallak panicked after being shouted at by police.

The officer had been charged in June 2021, with the justice ministry having said the previous October that he had not followed police rules for opening fire, and that Hallak had "posed no danger to police or civilians at the scene".

At the time, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Hallak's death a "war crime" and an "execution", while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as a "tragedy".

His funeral drew thousands of mourners, while online the hashtag #PalestinianLivesMatter echoed the fury of mass protests against police violence and racism in the United States.

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Source: TRT