Israeli court release suspects of killing Palestinian teenager

Israeli court release suspects of killing Palestinian teenager

2011-02-04 03:42:00 GMT+7 (ICT)

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (BNO NEWS) -- An Israeli court on Thursday released three suspects of killing a Palestinian teenager in the West Bank last December, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court released the three hikers who were arrested last week on suspicion of shooting and killing an underage boy near Beit Umar in the West Bank.

Judea and Samaria Police informed that the investigation was focusing on suspicion of manslaughter instead of murder. On Tuesday, a fourth suspect was released to five days of house arrest.

Police also admitted that at the current stage of the investigation, there were no suspects in the death of the Palestinian boy. The hikers were released due to lack of evidence.

The suspects said that they were targeted by rock-throwers and opened fire in self-defense. However, they remarked that bullets were fired in the air.

Palestinian authorities did not conduct an autopsy on the body and police have not been able to examine the bullet and match it with the hikers' firearms.

"We have no forensic evidence from the body, and we’ve not been able to recover forensic findings from the scene," a Judea and Samaria Police spokesperson said.

During the court's hearing, police and right-wing activists clashed outside the court at Jerusalem's Russian Compound area. The activists demanded the release of the three suspected hikers.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-02-04