Alon Hassan's associates were surprised by his conviction: "We have done him a great injustice"

The chairman of the Ashdod Port Workers Committee was disappointed by the Supreme Court's decision to partially accept the District Attorney's appeal for his acquittal in the district. His relatives claimed that the judges questioned factual findings and protested the very fact of the appeal: "An inappropriate move after such a resounding acquittal"

Alon Hassan's associates were surprised by his conviction: "We have done him a great injustice"

Ashdod Port Committee Chairman Alon Hassan was disappointed and surprised by the Supreme Court's decision Tuesday to partially accept the prosecution's appeal and convict him of fraud and breach of trust. "The Supreme Court decision greatly surprised us," they said. "They interfered with factual findings, which is unacceptable."

"Oak is very disappointed," said one of his associates. According to him, the man most identified with the employees of the port of Ashdod has done a great injustice. "We expected the Supreme Court to accept the ruling of the Be'er Sheva District Court, which was reasoned and explained," he said. "The district judge sat on the case for two years, examined every evidence and fact and decided to win. It was not proper at all for the prosecution to file an appeal after such a resounding acquittal."

Another Hassan associate also protested against the appeal filed by the prosecutor's office. "It's an incomprehensible thing, both the appeal and the decision," he argued. "The district judge turned every stone and won Oak, why did the Supreme intervene?"

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"Very disappointed." Hassan (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Former Alon Hassan Chairman of the Workers' Committee of Ashdod Port, January 2017 (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Nile Handel's top three judges, George Read and Joseph Elron, unanimously accepted the prosecutor's argument regarding Dana Logistics, which operated in port and Hassan's cousin, David, served as its senior manager. They stated that Hassan had issued internal documents for the port and handed them over to the company for legal action against the port - costing an act of breach of trust, as Hassan was aware that he was clearly in conflict of interest.

The judges were divided in relation to the affair referred to as "junk exporters". At the center of the indictment was a meeting designed to resolve the crisis, attended by a representative of Dana and Hassan, who had strong ties to the company. At the end of the meeting, port workers agreed to stop sanctions and resume work, and shortly thereafter, scrap exporters signed significant contracts with Dana.

The appeal was partially accepted: Alon Hassan was convicted of fraud and breach of trust

The judges unanimously accepted the Prosecutor's Office's argument regarding "Dana Logistics." Supreme Court (Photo: Noam Moskowitz)

Supreme Court, Jerusalem (Photo: Noam Moskowitz)

Following a ruling, the State Attorney's Office said: "The court rejected the state's appeal as to additional cases the state appealed against, but held that 'the findings are ... even from the cases which are not criminal, are disturbing. The fact that in various cases, the respondent involved himself in matters that Dana There is a touch on them, and as a result, it deserves, over the matter, administrative, disciplinary and value-based criticism. ”Moreover, the Court ruled as to these cases, in which it did not accept the state appeal, that" notwithstanding the aforesaid, it is impossible not to comment on respondent's poor conduct 1 (Alon Hassan). "

"The Prosecutor's Office appealed to the Supreme Court only for Alon and David Hassan's credits of fraud and public employee fraud, as well as fraud and breach of trust in the corporation, and not of credit for bribery offenses. A mistake in determining them), "the Prosecutor's Office added.

Attorneys Tamar Perush and Itamar Galbfish of the State Criminal Division, who represented the state in the appeal process, welcomed the Supreme Court decision. "As the court has stated, 'Any other interpretation of the matter has the potential to further reduce the fence and thus deprive Israeli society of an important instrument in maintaining the values ​​that underlie the public service.' It is also important to reiterate that even in cases where the state appeal was not received , The court criticized Alon Hassan's conduct and the conflict of interest in which he acted.