The 12 Arabs accused of murdering five members of the Jewish Macleff family at Motza on August 23, were freed yesterday by a verdict of not guilty, at the completion of the case, which had been dragging along for almost eight weeks. The two British jurists before whom the case was heard, Judge de Freitas and Chief Justice McDonnell, announced their decision after three hours of deliberation. The accused were freed because the judges found that their guilt had not been proved beyond any reasonable doubt.
When the crowd outside the courthouse heard the verdict, shouts of “long live the Palestine government” burst out from the joyous Arabs, especially from the members of the accused Arabs’ families. The Jewish population was almost unanimous in its indignation at the verdict, and one and all felt that it was a bare-faced miscarriage of justice.
The government, prepared for any Jewish resentment, papered the streets with posters soon after the verdict was made public, banning any demonstrations.
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