JERUSALEM — Israel’s Supreme Court has doubled the sentence of a former border policeman who was convicted in the death of a stone-throwing Palestinian teenager in 2014.
The court on Sunday upheld a state appeal for a longer sentence, extending Ben Deri’s imprisonment from nine months to 18 months.
The Jerusalem District Court ruled in April that Deri unjustly opened fire during demonstrations in the West Bank, killing 17-year-old Nadim Nuwara.
The court ruled Nuwara did not pose an immediate threat to Deri’s life, and that he negligently loaded live rounds instead of rubber coated bullets typically used to disperse demonstrations.
Deri agreed to a plea bargain that dropped the charge from manslaughter to causing severe bodily harm and death through negligence. He was also ordered to pay the victim’s family $14,000.