Nova Festival Sound System Theft: Final Conviction Delivers Over Two-Year Sentence

Three years after the October 7th Hamas attacks, an Israeli court has concluded the case involving the theft of sound equipment belonging to Matan Lior, who was killed at the Nova music festival. On Sunday, the Beer Sheva District Court sentenced Sun Tevel, 35, to two years and four months in prison. Tevel, from Netanya, was also ordered to pay a 10,000 shekel fine and 20,000 shekels in compensation to Lior's parents. The stolen equipment was valued at approximately 2 million shekels.

This ruling closes the case, as two other individuals involved in the same theft had previously been convicted. The judge criticized Tevel for evading legal proceedings, despite an arrest warrant being issued. Tevel frequently cited health issues but was observed posting photos of parties on social media the following day. His accomplice, Ram Shahin, 34, and Daniel Hasson, 30, were also sentenced. Shahin received seven years in prison, a 60,000 shekel fine, and 75,000 shekels in damages to Lior's parents after being found guilty of aggravated theft and fraud-related receiving stolen goods. The court determined Shahin had lied and manipulated the justice system.

Hasson was sentenced to 40 months in prison. Both he and Tevel had pleaded guilty to complicity in aggravated theft and attempted receiving stolen goods as part of a plea agreement with the prosecution. All three men were arrested in November 2023. According to the indictment, the trio went to the festival site on October 9th, 2023, to seize Matan Lior's sound system, the product of his life's work. The ground at the site was reportedly still stained with blood and ash. They falsely claimed to be collecting equipment for a missing friend, loaded the sound system and generator, and one of them provided a false statement to the police, posing as Lior's associate, which allowed their truck to leave.

Shockingly, the defendants visited Lior's parents during their mourning period and joined his friends in searching for the very equipment they had stolen. When sentencing Shahin and Hasson, the judge described the act as "unprecedented moral baseness," stating the defendants sought to profit from the national tragedy while the country mourned. He also noted their investigation consumed valuable public resources, emphasizing that the justice system must send a clear message that disrespecting the memory of the dead will be met with severe legal consequences.

Ofer Lior, Matan's father, described the legal process as an agonizing wait, with each postponed hearing forcing the family to gather strength to confront what had become of his son's equipment. "Matan stayed to save lives, and while we were looking for him, others rushed to steal what he had built with so much love," he stated. Matan Lior, 35, was posthumously awarded the Civil Heroism Medal by President Isaac Herzog for leading a field unit and saving numerous lives until his final moments.