Elor Azariya's attorney Yoram Sheftel sharply condemned the Military Prosecutor for deciding to submit a counter appeal over the prison sentence which the soldier received and which he is appealing.
"This is contemptible and vindictive, nasty and mean. It is simply a response to the appeal by Elor. If Elor's appeal had not been submitted, this never would have been submitted," said Sheftel in a Channel 2 interview.
"This appeal proves what I claimed from the start: The prosecution, to be precise the military prosecutor, is thirsting for Elor Azariya's blood," said Sheftel. "We see this from the fact that the maximum punishment they requested is 5 years and the court gave less than a third of that. There is no better proof of their desire to see Elor's blood spilled."
"The appeal is not based on rational considerations and is merely an act of revenge against Elor for proclaiming his innocence and utilizing the methods which the law provides for him to justify his claim that the conviction is totally ridiculous and has nothing to do with the facts," added Sheftel.
Earlier, army prosecutors filed an appeal Tuesday at an IDF court in Tel Aviv against the 18-month jail sentence handed down to Sgt. Elor Azariya, after he was convicted in January of manslaughter in the shooting death of a wounded Arab terrorist in Hevron last March.
Prosecutor Nadav Weissman argued that the sentence appeared to be disconnected from the ruling of the court in January convicting Azariya, claiming 18-months was an insufficient punishment. The prosecution had requested 3 to 5 years.
In the appeal, the prosecution slightly reduced its request, calling for a minimum of 2.5 years in jail.