The main witness in the Duma murder case in which members of the Darawshe family perished as a result of a firebomb attack, refused to testify

There was a measure of drama in the courtroom on Wednesday, when Amiram Ben-Uliel, who is charged with the murders of three members of the Darawshe family in the PA (Palestinian Authority) village of Duma in 2015, refused to testify in the Lod District Court despite being the central witness in the case.

Defense attorney Asher Ohayon of Honenu explained “The decision is an expression of the sense of injustice done to him in the ‘mini trial’, when the court dismissed only part of his confessions, even though they were issued under torture that preceded them”.

The head of the panel of judges, Judge Ruth Lorch, confirmed whether Ben-Uliel understands that his refusal to testify raises suspicions against him, and his defense attorney replied in the affirmative.

Attorney Yitzhak Bam, who also represents Ben-Uliel on behalf of the Honenu said: “We disagree with the decision to accept some of the confessions. They were given as a result of torture, and I believe that it would be unfair to require the defendant to deal with these confessions, which were made involuntarily and out of fear of torture, on the witness stand”.

As part of the hearing of the defense phase currently under way in the Central District Court in Lod, attorney Asher Ohayon announced that in the coming days he would submit the opinion of graphological experts to the court, as they determined that the graffiti found in the event in the village of Duma is not compatible with the handwriting of Amiram Ben-Uliel.

The defendant’s mother-in-law testified: “I know that Amiram is not connected to every terrorist incident. I am convinced to this day that the attack in Duma was carried out by Arabs”.

Orion Ben-Uliel, the wife of the defendant, also provided the alibi for her husband on the witness stand and said about the night the Darawshe family was burned, “We lived in a truck at the time, it never happened that Amiram did not come back in the evening and leave me alone at home. I remember it was late, telling myself and possibly to Amiram that is was 1:00AM and I had to go to sleep”.

“When we woke up at 4:00AM, I did not know what time it was, I looked at the phone and went back to dozing. At 5:00AM I woke Amiram to go out with my friends to the spring, and I said to him: ‘Take care of the girl’.

“Any claim that he could go out at night and come back, is really baseless. Our door was improvised and very noisy, there was no way he would go out and I would not wake up”.

“Amiram was at home with the baby, at 7:00AM I went home to the truck, and Amiram was at home. In the morning, we organized for Shabbos”.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)