Following the conviction of Sgt. Elor Azaria of manslaughter, celebrity Litigator Yoram Sheftel, who in 1987 defended Nazi extermination camp guard John Demjanjuk (he won on appeal). Sheftel, who is renowned in Israel for his aggressive style and personal attacks on political rivals, told Walla on Monday that “the thugs in this case was the military prosecution.”
“The court pleaded with them time and again to reach a compromise, to which the defenders and defendants agreed immediately,” Sheftel said. “It was the military prosecutors who rejected those offers. From the very start, they showed their bottomless thirst for Azaria’s spilled blood.”
Shftel noted that he and his team “are always prepared to listen to suggestions, which doesn’t mean we’ll necessarily accept them.”
Sheftel argued that Azaria’s conviction was the result of distorted evidence. “I’m in the process of getting into the thick of things,” he explained. “I read the verdict more than once. It makes you both depressed and stunned. How could they convict with such unbearable ease? They either ignore the evidence or distort what the evidence means.”
As to his own politics becoming involved in the appeal process, Sheftel told Walla: “I don’t think my political outlook, which I disagree is rightwing, rather it’s nationalistic, has any bearing on the case.”