The Jewish nationalist who has confessed to assassinating Yitzhak Rabin went on trial Tuesday, grinning, chewing gum and waving to his parents in a packed Tel Aviv courtroom.
Judge Edmond Levy read out the charges against Yigal Amir in the 80-seat room in Tel Aviv District Court. Asked whether he understood the charges, the 25-year-old law student, flanked by eight guards, nodded but did not speak.Levy ordered a recess until Jan. 23, the day Amir will be asked to enter a plea.
If convicted, Amir's mandatory sentence would be life in prison. The death penalty in Israel is reserved for Nazi war criminals and offenders who endanger state security, such as spies.
Despite the prosecution's seemingly rock-solid case, backed by Amir's confession and an amateur video of the Nov. 4 assassination of the prime minister, Amir's attorneys have said their client might not plead guilty.
Prosecutor Pnina Guy, when asked whether this was an open-and-shut case, said: "He was caught red-handed, wasn't he?"
Amir's attorney, Mordechai Offri, said he had not yet decided on a defense strategy.
"We need to go over all the material," he said outside the courtroom.
The judge turned down a request by Offri to bar Israel TV's Channel Two from broadcasting the video showing Rabin's assassination. Channel Two and the Yediot Ahronot daily bought the video for $350,000, said the station's director general, Nachman Shai.
Amir entered the courtroom Tuesday without handcuffs, chewing gum and wearing a black skullcap, a white dress shirt and a gray-and-black sweater slung over his shoulders.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Video shows shots
A videotape of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination shows a gunman loitering unchallenged near the prime minister's car, easily approaching him from behind and shooting him in the back at point-blank range.
The dark and grainy video, taken by an amateur photographer, shows the gunman stalking Rabin until his outstretched left arm nearly touches the prime minister. Two shots from the gun suddenly flash and Rabin drops to the pavement, covered by his bodyguards.
The Yediot Ahronot newspaper published a series of still images from the eight-minute video Tuesday. It printed the dramatic moment of assassination across half its front page.
Israel TV's Channel Two was to air the tape Tuesday night. Until Tuesday, the public saw no image of the assassination beyond still photographs showing only Rabin's heels as he lay mortally wounded near his car.