Prosecutors plan to indict 2 suspects for murder of Galilee teenager
State attorneys tell court there is sufficient evidence to charge a man and a minor in the November killing of Yara Ayoub
State prosecutors on Monday informed a court they will soon indict two suspects in the murder of a Galilee teenage girl, whose death fueled a wave of women’s protests throughout the country.
Yara Ayoub, 16, was found dead in an alley in her hometown of Jish on November 26, three days after she went missing.
Prosecutors told the Nazareth District Court that “there is prima facie evidence to justify an indictment against suspects for murder,” Hadashot television news reported.
The two suspects are both from Jish and one of them is a reportedly a minor. Many details of the case are gagged under a court order.
“Police managed to solve the case even though it was complicated,” a source familiar with the investigation told Hadashot.
A defense attorney for the suspects, Falah Basel, claimed prosecutors were acting under public pressure.
“Despite all the problems and the question marks, the prosecution decided to file an indictment,” Basel said, according to the TV report. “On the face of it, it seems that the submission is due to public pressure and not because of the — weak –evidence in the case.”
The mother, father, and brother of one of the prime suspects were all previously arrested and then released to house arrest by the Nazareth Magistrate’s Court. Police sources have said they may yet be charged as accessories in Ayoub’s killing, Channel 10 television reported in December.
Ayoub’s killing shocked the quiet village of some 3,000, leading local schools and businesses to close in protest.
She was last seen on November 23 at 5 p.m. when she walked into a bakery in Jish. She disappeared a short while later, triggering a three-day search in the village and neighboring region until her body was found in an alley next to a business establishment in the village on November 26.
Her death, along with that of 13-year-old Sylvana Tsegai in Tel Aviv — allegedly carried out by her mother’s former boyfriend — led to a public outcry over government inaction on violence targeting women.
On December 4, thousands of women across the country went on strike, with marches and protest events held throughout the day.
The Times of Israel Community.