Attorney Yehuda Fried, who is representing the 7-year-old rape victim, spoke on Sunday to 103FM Radio about the various difficulties some see in the case.
Mahmoud Nazmi Abed Alhamid Katusa, 46, was indicted last Sunday on charges of kidnapping and raping the victim, who studied in the school where he is employed as a janitor.
"The nationalistic discussion does not interest me and it does not interest the family," Fried told 103FM. "The only thing that interests me is catching the guilty party and bringing him to justice for the horrible crime he committed."
"The girl provided testimony in four different interrogations, and she provided absolute identification of the guilty party. This is a person who is familiar to her from school. What's there to be confused about? She also gave exact details about the apartment, about the vase of flowers, and everything matches the scene."
When asked how the rapist could have dragged the girl through the street with no one noticing, Fried said, "The school is in a mountainous area and we're not talking about packed streets. The girl walked in unmarked paths and there it seems she was ambushed and kidnapped."
He did, however, admit that there were "absolutely" unresolved issues. "There's no interrogation without question marks," he said. "Somehow when it comes to this case there are things happening which I fail to understand. Suddenly they care about the exact date and time. Most indictments I've seen regarding sex crimes note an unknown date and an unknown time."
"The girl was sexually abused, and there are examinations which prove that. She also suffers psychological symptoms such as bedwetting, which are very common among victims of sexual assault." He added that despite the fact that the pediatrician who examined the girl did not report the crime to the authorities or send the girl to the emergency room, she still "wrote a report noting that there was a rape, which leaves no room for doubt."
The woman who alibied Katusa, Fried noted, "had a relationship of employment with him. That doesn't sit well in my stomach."
Regarding the claim that Katusa's polygraph test showed he was speaking the truth, Fried explained: "That's another bluff. Before every polygraph test, they ask standard questions: How old are you? Where do you live? What are your hobbies? And so on. He was found to be speaking the truth when answering all of these. When he was asked questions regarding the case, he was found to be lying."
"The girl told her version, and in my entire life I've never seen children lying in an interrogation. She has no motive for lying. She described things exactly as she saw them."
"Last Thursday we....met the chief military prosecutor, the prosecutor for Judea and Samaria, and the lawyer from the military prosecution who is handling the case. They stand firmly behind the case and say that all of the complications which are only now being publicized are things they do before. They submitted the indictment, and they believe in it.
"I met the parents. The parents are in a very difficult situation. They're crushed. The father almost fainted in my office. They've lost their daughter spiritually. Let's hope the truth comes to light."