The prosecution called for sentences ranging from six-and-a-half to nine years in prison for six alleged Israeli agents as formal proceedings in the Boushicki murder trial were concluded here during the weekend. Defense attorneys pleaded for the release of the defendants claiming the prosecution had not presented conclusive evidence of the defendants’ guilt in the slaying of Ahmed Boushicki in Lillehammer in eastern Norway. “I can accept that the defendants and the Israeli government view Boushicki’s murder as an act of war,” State Prosecutor Haakon Wiker said in his closing statement. “But for Norwegian authorities it was a criminal act,” he said.
Wiker asked for nine-year prison terms for Abraham Gehmer, and Dan Aerbel, both allegedly experienced Israeli intelligence operatives; a seven-year term for Sylvia Rafael; and six-and-a-half-years for Michael Dorf, Zwi Steinberg and Marianne Gladnikoff. The defendants are Jewish and claim to be Israeli residents.
Defense attorneys, led by top Norwegian criminal lawyer Annaeus Schoedt, maintained in their closing statements that the prosecution had not presented concrete evidence of the defendants’ guilt, rejected prosecution claims that the wrong man had been killed, and that the “shadowing and information-gathering activities” of the group were not covered by Norway’s espionage laws. A final verdict in the case is not expected before the beginning of Feb., court sources said.
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