Nova Party Attacker Sentenced to 7 Years for Stealing Equipment

A Beer Sheva Magistrate's Court has sentenced Ram Shahin to seven years in prison for aggravated theft and fraud. Shahin was convicted of stealing sound equipment left at the site of the Nova music festival following the October 7th Hamas attack. Another defendant, Daniel Hasson, received a 40-month sentence after admitting to attempted aggravated fraud as part of a plea deal.

A third defendant, San Lucian Tevel, who admitted to aiding the theft, will have his sentence determined later. Tevel informed the court he could not attend due to medical reasons.

Judge Amir Doron emphasized the severity of the crimes, committed in the days immediately after the massacre. He noted that Matan Lior, a sound engineer who worked at the festival and was killed while helping rescue the injured, was the owner of the stolen equipment. The court stated that while the victims' blood was still on the ground and the nation was in mourning, the defendants desecrated the dead and hindered law enforcement efforts.

According to the indictment, two sound systems belonging to Lior's company remained at the festival site. Two days after the attack, the defendants contacted a truck driver to pick up one sound system and a generator. Shahin and Hasson drove to the area, falsely claiming they were collecting equipment for a missing friend. Police stopped the truck driver due to a tracking alert from the generator. Shahin later falsely presented himself to the police as Lior's partner, securing the release of the truck and sound system.

The court found that Shahin deliberately exploited the crisis, rejecting his claim of intending to help. He is also ordered to pay NIS 75,000 in compensation to Lior's family and NIS 25,000 to Amitai Nachum. Hasson was ordered to pay NIS 40,000 to Lior's family and NIS 15,000 to Nachum.