Israeli Man Freed From Iraqi Kurdistan After 11 Years, Death Sentence Overturned

An Israeli man, Ben Hasin, has been released from prison in Iraqi Kurdistan after serving nearly 11 years for the killing of a local taxi driver. Hasin, who was originally sentenced to death for the 2014 incident, had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment and later reduced to 15 years. A recent court ruling last week led to his early release, and he is expected to return to Israel.

Hasin, who was born in Kurdistan and later lived in Israel and Canada, was visiting his grandparents when he found himself in the region amidst fighting between Kurdish forces and the Islamic State. In 2015, a taxi driver reportedly threatened to hand him over to ISIS militants after hearing him speak Hebrew, leading to a physical altercation. The taxi driver sustained injuries and later died.

Hasin maintained throughout the legal proceedings that he acted in self-defense, claiming the driver attacked him first. His death sentence was handed down by a Kurdish court in 2020, but according to Mordechai Tsivin, an attorney specializing in cases of Israelis detained abroad, death sentences have not been carried out in Kurdistan since 2008, typically being replaced with life imprisonment.

Efforts for Hasin's release over several years were spearheaded by American lawyer Alan Louis and Israeli diplomat Eyal Sisso, who previously served as Deputy Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Consular Affairs. Rabbis and Jewish communities in the United States provided financial assistance for the necessary procedures. The article also references a separate case of an Israeli woman sentenced to death in the UAE for drug trafficking, who reportedly does not believe the sentence will be carried out.