Site of Duma arson attack
Site of Duma arson attackCredit: Flash 90

A plea bargain will be signed today with "Minor A" from the infamous and controversial Duma case. According to the arrangement, the minor will plead guilty to various charges, including a number of "Price Tag" vandalism incidents, but the amended indictment disconnects the minor from the alleged murder incident in the village of Duma.

In addition, the State Attorney's Office repealed the serious accusations against him at the beginning of the case, and he will be acquitted of the burning of the Church of the Dormition and other charges. With regard to the charges in membership in a terror organization, the parties have not reached an agreement and the trial will continue.

This is a dramatic arrangement, in light of the fact that throughout the trial the State Prosecutor's Office and the General Security Service insisted that the minor, along with the other defendant Amiram Ben Uliel, were behind the deaths in Duma.

Legal sources close to the case said that this was another collapse of the Shin Bet's thesis about what happened that night in Duma village and who was behind the incident. They added that this is expected to help the other defendant, Ben Uliel, prove his innocence, since the amended indictment signed by the State Prosecutor's Office presents a different picture from the indictment that the prosecution is conducting against Ben Uliel, destroying their first version.

The lenient plea bargain with A. comes after Yinon Reuveni and Minor Z. were recently acquitted in Price Tag cases connected with the affair.

The District Court had rejected the confessions of Minor A and some of Ben Uliel's, after it determined they had been extracted by physical force and not of the defendants' free will.