Man jailed for 'honour killing'

2008-03-05 21:10

Jerusalem - A Tel Aviv court has sentenced an Israeli Arab man to 16 years in prison for involvement in the murder of his sister in a so-called "honour killing," after several female relatives took the rare step of testifying against him, according to court documents.

Hamda Abu Ghanem was the ninth woman killed in the clan in recent years by men in the family. She was shot in January last year as she slept at her parents' home in a Muslim neighbourhood of Ramla, a mixed Jewish-Arab town in central Israel.

Ghanem fled the area

"Honour killings" refer to murder of women by relatives for allegedly sullying the good name of the family, usually because of sexual misdeeds.

Incriminating evidence against the brother, Kamil Abu Ghanem, included an account by an aunt who said she saw him enter the family home, heard shots, and then saw him flee the area. Gunpowder was also found on the clothes he wore that day, according to the documents.

The aunt's identity has not been made public over fear for her safety. Although she had given a statement to police, the aunt disappeared before she could be brought to testify.

In a plea bargain approved by the Tel Aviv District Court this week, Abu Ghanem was convicted of being an accessory to a murder, maintaining that he only let someone else into the building to kill his sister, said his lawyer, Giora Zilbershtein.

Some were gunned down or stabbed to death

The mother and another sister were among those who testified against Abu Ghanem.

The clan is well known in Ramla. One cousin, Reem, was drugged by a brother and thrown in a well after refusing to marry the man her family chose, relatives said. Reem's mother, Nayfa, was stabbed to death.

Another woman "slipped" in the bathroom and died of her injuries. Others were gunned down or stabbed to death.

- SAPA