Kurdistan authorities free Israeli-Canadian after 11 years

Shafaq News- Erbil

Kurdistan Region authorities released Israeli-Canadian Jew of Kurdish descent Ben Hassin after 11 years in prison, the Media Line said on Thursday.

Hassin traveled to the Kurdistan Region in 2015 to visit relatives before joining Kurdish forces fighting ISIS. While on leave, he shot a taxi driver with a weapon issued to him during his service, the Media Line reported. Hassin and his family later claimed the driver heard him speaking Hebrew, threatened to hand him over to ISIS, and changed course, prompting Hassin to open fire because he feared for his life. The driver later died, and Kurdish authorities arrested Hassin on a murder charge.

According to the report, a court sentenced Hassin to death in 2020 before reducing the punishment to 15 years. His conviction was eventually overturned following a financial settlement with the victim’s family. The absence of diplomatic relations between Iraq and Israel complicated efforts to transfer the money and limited Israeli consular involvement.

Israeli military censorship initially kept the case largely out of public view before authorities allowed partial details to emerge in 2017. After his release on Wednesday, Hassin said, “I’ve waited too long for this. It’s tears of joy.” He is expected to travel to Israel in the coming days.

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