Israeli State Attorney cleared all suspects in the killing of Mussa Hassouna during May 2021 violent events; Adalah seeks review of the investigatory materials
On 30 November 2021, Adalah –The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel sent a letter to the State Attorney's office on behalf of Mussa Hassouna's family requesting a review of the investigatory materials that led to the closure of cases against all suspects in Hassouna's killing. Mussa Hassouna, was a 31-year-old, Palestinian citizen of Israel who was shot and killed on 11 May 2021 in his hometown of Lod (Lydd), a mixed Jewish-Arab city in the center of Israel. The State Attorney's office first provided official information on the investigation on 21 October 2021, following repeated requests by the family for an update on the status of the investigation, which went unanswered by the police. The State Attorney's office notified the family that it decided to close the cases against all five Jewish Israeli suspects; clearing four of them of guilt, while the fifth was closed due to insufficient evidence. Also, Mussa Hassouna's family was informed that the suspects' claims of self-defense were accepted, and thus, they would not be charged and would not stand trial.
CLICK HERE to read Adalah's letter
In the letter, Adalah Attorney Nareman Shehadeh-Zoabi argued that the decision to close the five cases, in light of the hotly-contested public debate surrounding the case, in which even political factors tried to intervene, raises serious suspicion that the decision was motivated by extraneous considerations and is an attempt to cover up the truth. In this respect, Adalah drew attention to the unreasonable decisions reached during the investigatory process, such as the rapid release of the detained suspects. Moreover, Adalah stressed that the State Attorney's acceptance of the self-defense claims is outrageous considering the circumstances of the case, especially in light of concerns that the suspects' version of the sequence of events was the only version that was investigated.
Mussa Hassouna's family is now seeking review of the investigatory materials in order to decide whether to file an appeal against the decision to close the cases against all five suspects.
Adalah Attorney Nareman Shehadeh-Zoabi stated:
"The conduct of law enforcement agencies in the investigation of Mussa Hassouna's killing casts doubt on the thoroughness and credibility of the investigatory process, and thus, on the decisions made within this process, especially the decision to close the cases against all five suspects. The deceased's family, who received information regarding the investigation over the last six months only through the media and not from the police, has no way to assess the authorities' conduct without the investigatory materials. The family, who believes that their son did not pose any real threat to anyone, must review the investigatory material in order to refute the self-defense claims raised by the suspects."
