Israel Picks Former Chief Military Prosecutor to Lead Trials of Oct. 7 Attack Suspects
More than 400 suspects are expected to be indicted before a special military court being prepared in Jerusalem, under a law that allows the death penalty.
See where this is ›JERUSALEM —
Israel has chosen Zana Modzgvrishvili, a former chief military prosecutor, to lead the prosecution of suspects in the Hamas-led attack of Oct. 7, 2023, The Jerusalem Post, Ynet and All Israel News reported. The Jerusalem Post spelled her name Jana Modgavrishvili.
See where this is ›Modzgvrishvili served about 22 years in the Israel Defense Forces, the last four as chief military prosecutor, and has also served as a military judge. After leaving the army in 2013 she took a Justice Ministry post reviewing complaints from people questioned by the Shin Bet security service. Ynet reported she will work as a civilian employee of the IDF.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin spoke with her on Sunday evening, Oct. 25. His office said he “thanked her for taking on this important mission,” according to The Jerusalem Post.
See where this is ›More than 400 suspects, many of them members of Hamas's Nukhba force, are expected to be indicted, with the final number depending on ongoing investigations by the Shin Bet and the IDF. The attack killed 1,164 civilians and soldiers, Ynet reported. Evidence is expected to include videos the attackers filmed themselves, forensic findings, interrogation records and survivors' testimony.
The Knesset approved the legal framework on May 11 by a vote of 93-0. The measure, pushed by lawmakers Simcha Rothman of the Religious Zionist Party and Yulia Malinovsky of Yisrael Beytenu, treats crimes committed Oct. 7-10, 2023, including murder, rape, kidnapping and looting, as crimes against the Jewish people, crimes against humanity and war crimes. It also covers crimes against hostages held in Gaza and allows courts to impose the death penalty for certain offenses.
See where this is ›A special military court is to sit in Jerusalem, with a site being prepared in the Atarot area in the north of the city. Plans call for nine courtrooms and seating for victims' families, the public and journalists. Rather than one mass trial, cases are to be grouped by place, such as Kibbutz Be'eri, Kibbutz Nir Oz and the Nova music festival, with three-judge panels and an automatic appeal for anyone convicted.
Defendants are expected to appear mostly by video from detention. Officials have raised the possibility of a first indictment in the first half of 2027, Ynet reported. The trials have drawn comparisons to Israel's 1961 trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem.
