What do the witnesses in the Zadorov case remember 15 years later?

Fifteen years have passed since the assassination of Tair Rada. The renewed trial, which aims to find the girl's real killer, called witnesses into the courtroom who also stood trial in this case 15 years ago. Now they have to testify again.

The testimonies of witnesses are continually interrupted due to the fact that they simply do not remember anything anymore. The human memory is elastic and loves to play, adding or removing certain details every now and then, depending on the experience.

So, interrogating Gilad Abitbul, who, at the time of the murder, was a school student, and on that tragic day he saw Zadorov with a load in his hands, the judges heard from Abitbul that “if the passage of time causes a lack of evidence that could shed light on the case and protect the defendant, and today it is no longer possible, it is clear to me that this is the argument that should be adopted by the state, and the state should take the responsibility to convict a person or release him. If the state failed to prove, and the Supreme Court decided to reconsider the case, then the state will not receive any indulgence, because time has passed, and there is a problem with witnesses”.

“Even if we say that the problem is not caused by memory failures in a person, but by the fact that today he is afraid of Zadorov. What will the judge do? The state must prove all the elements of the crime.

Gilad mentioned a case where the police did not investigate until an alibi was needed for the defendant in a murder case. During the trial, the witness was out of the country and could not be found, and the defendant won the case.

“The Supreme Court said the role of the police is to do everything possible to find the truth. If this is not done in real time, this is a problem for the police and the prosecutor's office”.