Galilee mayor charged with murder in slaying caught on video

The head of the northern Galilee Druze town of Julis was charged with murder Sunday, weeks after he shot a club-wielding man in a deadly exchange caught on video.

Salman Amar, 54, was indicted Sunday in Haifa District Court on charges of murder over the killing of gardening contractor Monir Nibwani, 45, and obstruction of justice.

Amar and Nibwani had been involved in an ongoing clan feud before the September 5 killing in a parking lot near the town hall.

Amar’s lawyer claimed the mayor acted in self-defense after being attacked by Nibwani. The prosecution rejects the claim of self-defense citing the number of shots and the ongoing feud.

A video of the incident shows Amar parking his car in the lot adjacent to the council building while another car blocks him in.

[Warning: Graphic Content]

https://youtu.be/KIKMOcl08h0

In the film, Nibwani emerges from the second car, pulling a long wooden club or baseball bat from the trunk. Nibwani seems to threaten Amar as he is getting out of his car.

As Amar is shown scrambling back inside the car, the video shows Nibwani start to smash the windows and car with the bat.

Another man approaches to break up the fight. As he does so, Amar gets out of the car and fires at Nibwani several times, hitting him in the chest and stomach.

As Nibwani is hunched over, the video appears to show Amar fire at least two more shots to his head at point blank range before Nibwani drops to the ground.

The prosecution requested that a gag order be placed on details of the long-running feud between Amar and Nibwani. They also requested that Amar be kept in jail until the end of proceedings.