Salomon Raday Spends 4.5 Years Wrongfully Imprisoned for Murder but Denied Civil Compensation

Salomon Raday was imprisoned for four and a half years under a murder charge he did not commit before being unanimously acquitted by three judges at the District Court. The criminal ruling criticized the scant and negligible evidence against him and revealed that a police informant had been placed in his cell to coerce him into criminal acts. Raday was awarded 600,000 shekels in compensation following the criminal trial, with the prosecution acknowledging mistakes and lessons learned.

Despite this acquittal and compensation, Raday's subsequent civil lawsuit for wrongful detention was entirely dismissed by another District Court, which ruled that the original indictment was "reasonable," thereby denying him any civil damages. This contradictory legal outcome has exacerbated Raday's severe psychological distress, including trauma and ongoing hardship. Raday described his suffering, stating, "Every day I die and wake up again," and revealed he has no family or social support and has attempted suicide multiple times while incarcerated.

An appeal against the civil ruling has been filed with the Supreme Court, but the hearing is scheduled only for March 2028, nearly two years after the appeal was submitted. Raday's lawyer, Eli Helem, condemned the conflicting court decisions as causing profound harm to Raday’s rights, emphasizing that he spent years in prison completely innocent. The case highlights a rare legal paradox where criminal and civil courts reached opposing conclusions on the same facts, leaving Raday without full justice or compensation for his ordeal.