State Attorney Amit Aisman has decided to hold a retrial for Roman Zadorov in Tair Rada’s 2006 murder case, following former Supreme Court deputy chief justice Hanan Melcer’s approval of a request to do so in May, the prosecution said Wednesday.
The Nazareth District Court and Zadorov’s attorneys have been informed of the state attorney’s decision, it said.
Zadorov was convicted in 2010 and again in 2014 of murdering the 13-year-old girl at the Nofei Golan Middle School in Katzrin. He has been the subject of great controversy and speculation, as doubts have been raised regarding his guilt.
Following a thorough examination of the case, the state attorney said there is a reasonable chance of a third conviction for Zadorov, but a retrial is in the public interest and should be carried out.
Former Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) deputy director Itzhak Ilan has accused the Israel Police and the State Attorney’s Office of framing Zadorov for the murder, according to segments of an interview he gave before his death that were leaked last week.
“Zadorov fell into the corrupt police officers’ trap. The interrogators, in cooperation with the prosecution, framed him,” Ilan said in the interview, adding that “the police aren’t willing to admit it.”
Melcer wrote in his decision: “Facts, or evidence, have been discovered that may change the outcome of the trial in favor of the applicant.”
“It is a disappointment,” Zadorov’s attorney Yarom Halevy said. “The state attorney made a bad call” regarding the decision to hold a retrial. “Roman has been cheated in his trial, and everyone should know that the moment the prosecution decides to hold a retrial, it will be a fake trial.”
“I am strong-willed,” he said. “The trial will be a battle of integrity over Roman’s innocence.”