The Palestine Court of Appeal today confirmed the death sentence of the Jewish merchant from Jaffa, Joseph Mizrachi Urphali, condemned to death for a second time by the lower court, April 3, following a re-trial which had been ordered by the Court of Appeal when it ruled out the evidence presented by the prosecution in the first trial. Urphali is now the only Jew sentenced to death as a result of last Summer’s riots.
Urphali’s re-trial followed a decision of the Court of Appeal on January 25, setting aside the verdict of the lower court. It was expected that a re-trial would mean an acquittal. He was found guilty of being implicated in the murder of two Arabs who were killed on August 25 when the Arabs attempted to invade Tel Aviv from a point just outside of Urphali’s house in Jaffa. His counsel, Mordecai Eliash, has asked the Court of Appeal to request High Commissioner Chancellor to pardon Urphali.
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