State opposes parole for man who killed his rapist

Early release for Yonatan Heilo became possible after president commuted sentence to 10 years, which followed court ruling that altered conviction from murder to manslaughter

The state prosecution said Sunday that it was opposed to parole for a man who is in prison for killing his rapist, Hadashot TV news reported.

Yonatan Heilo, who has long fought for early release, is scheduled to face a prison parole board on Monday. In 2013 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

He became eligible for early release after President Reuven Rivlin commuted part of his sentence in November.

Heilo was initially convicted of murdering Yaron Eilin in the coastal city of Netanya, after the latter repeatedly raped, robbed and blackmailed him over a period of several months in 2010.

However, in 2016, following an appeal, the Supreme Court softened Heilo’s murder conviction, instead finding him guilty of manslaughter and reducing his term from 20 years to 12.

Rivlin then commuted part of the sentence to probation, bringing his jail time down to 10 years and eight months and enabling him to seek parole as he had by then served over half of the reduced sentence.

In 2016, at the recommendation of the Justice Ministry, Rivlin turned down Heilo’s request for a full pardon but said he would reconsider if a further request was submitted after a substantial period of time.