After Zadorov's acquittal, state attorney's office weighs filing appeal

After Roman Zadorov's dramatic acquittal in the Nazareth District Court on Thursday morning, the state attorney's office is thinking about filing an appeal to the High Court of Justice and says this absolutely is a "possible option."

The attorney's office added that it wanted to study the verdict and formulate its position on the matter later.

Statement by the attorney's office

"The attorney's office worked tirelessly to get to the truth," said attorney Meital Chen Rosenfeld from the attorney's office. "All out of a deep sense of responsibility for the public interest, which is what the attorney's office owes to the public. The evidence, in our estimation, pointed to the guilt of Roman Zadorov in the murder of the late Tair Rada beyond a reasonable doubt.

"It was our duty to file an indictment and conduct the procedure because there is evidence of the murder of a girl in a school, there is a public interest, and it was our duty to file an indictment. This is also the opinion of Hon. Judge Nissim Shay, who ruled in a minority opinion that Zadorov's guilt in committing the horrible murder was proven above reasonable doubt.

"The judge also determined that all the new evidence that was presented as part of the retrial wasn't enough to create reasonable doubt. We will study the verdict, and we will study it with iron combs."

It's important to understand that the murder case is in the hand of the attorney's office, which is convinced that Zadorov is the murderer. The decision regarding the renewal of the trial now belongs to the attorney's office, which will also decide to which unit to assign the investigation, if indeed one is opened and if no appeal is filed to the High Court.

Police deny criticism

Police officials referred to the criticism voiced by the head of the judge's panel, Judge Asher Kula, when he claimed that "a rare coincidence combined with police negligence caused doubts to be cast on Zadorov's character."

The police officials emphasized that "the High Court has previously convicted Zadorov, so the judge can point the same criticism at the judges at the High Court, who convicted based on the same evidence brought by the police investigators. The High Court did not claim that the police acted illegally."

The officials also stated that "alongside Judge Kola, Judge Nissim Shay found that Zadorov was guilty, and the police also thought so. The decision cannot erase what was done in the investigation."