Extradition proceedings against fugitive stall
The extradition proceedings of Shay Moslie have been stalled after both the State and defence accused each other of misconduct.
|||Johannesburg - The extradition proceedings of Israeli fugitive Shay Moslie have been stalled after both the State and defence accused each other of misconduct and launching legal ambushes.
Meanwhile, The Star can now reveal details of Moslie’s alleged crimes, and that authorities believe he is the head of an Israeli crime family responsible for a gang war that left three people dead.
On Tuesday, Moslie appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s Court, where argument for the extradition was to take place. However, after the State submitted its heads of argument, Moslie’s defence advocate, Anton Katz, immediately argued that they constituted an extreme abuse of the court process. Katz said State advocate Deon Barnard had tried to surreptitiously include new evidence on the second last page of the heads.
But Barnard was quick to rebut Katz’s claims, saying the defence had accused the State of “ambushing” after having done the same thing at Moslie’s bail application in January.
It was Moslie’s other advocate, Lawrence Hodes, who calmed proceedings, suggesting that if the State provided its new evidence to the defence and gave them time to respond, the proceedings could continue at a later date. The court granted the postponement, and proceedings are set to continue on May 11.
The Star has now seen the extradition papers submitted by the Israeli Ministry of Justice, where Moslie is accused of being the director of a criminal organisation.
He and eight other members of the organisation are sought by the Israeli police to be tried for their alleged roles in the murders of rival gang members.
In October 2011, a suspected member of the gang and close friend of Moslie, Avi David, was murdered in the city of Bat-Yam in Israel. The first charge against Moslie relates to the alleged conspiracy to murder the suspected head of a rival gang, Moti Hassin, who Moslie believed was responsible for David’s murder.
A member of Moslie’s gang, who has since turned State witness, told investigators Moslie had asked that he assassinate Hassin with a sniper rifle on December 24 2011.
While the plan ultimately failed, Moslie and his cohorts were allegedly responsible for the assassination of another member of the rival gang, Bar Cohen, who was shot multiple times at a public park in Bat-Yam on January 30, 2012.
He is also accused of orchestrating the murder of two other members of Hassin’s organisation, Ohad Franco and Daniel Samara, who were killed in a drive-by shooting on February 20, 2012.
Lastly, Moslie has also been charged with the conspiracy to kill Moshe Okanin, a former business associate, but he later abandoned the assassination plot.
Moslie’s South African legal team in charge of the extradition proceedings have, however, obtained sworn affidavits from both Hassin and Okanin, stating there were never any disputes between Moslie and themselves, and that they remain friends. According to Moslie’s attorney, Ian Levitt, the circumstances surrounding his client’s arrest and incarceration were an abuse of his rights and - as stated in Moslie’s bail application - the Israeli police case was based on only one witness.
shain.germaner@inl.co.za
The Star