The military attorney's office appealed the sentence of the 70-year-old Navy officer who raped her: "sends a forgiving message"

After Friel Kalimi was sentenced to seven years in prison, the prosecution demands that his sentence be increased to 13 years, noting that there are no similar cases in the history of the IDF.

His disturbing actions led to damage on many levels in her life"

Yoav Itiel

08/18/2022

Thursday, August 18, 2022, 4:42 p.m. Updated: 5:34 p.m.

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On video: Navy officer was convicted of rape and sodomy of a female civilian at the base where he served (Photo: Shlomi Gabai)

The military attorney's office appealed today (Thursday) the sentence of former officer Friel Kalimi, who was convicted of rape and sodomy on a 70-year-old civilian employee at the navy base.

In its reasoning, the attorney's office wrote that the offense is "at the upper end of the seriousness of the scale of sexual offenses. Imposing a sentence of seven years in prison clearly deviates from the appropriate punishment and sends a forgiving message towards those who have committed such serious offenses."

Kalimi, a 35-year-old resident of Migdal Hamek, married and the father of five, was sentenced to seven years in prison.

In addition, he was demoted to the rank of private and must compensate the woman in the amount of NIS 60,000.

At first he categorically denied the accusations, but after providing a DNA sample that matched the one found at the scene, he was forced to admit and claimed that the events took place with her consent.

The panel of three judges acquitted Kalimi of one of the crimes of rape and the use of a weapon attributed to him, and found the woman's version reliable, even though it was sometimes inaccurate.

In contrast, the judges found the former officer's version "unreliable and incorrect".

He treated the victim as "easy prey".

Friel Kalimi (Photo: Shlomi Gabai)

The victim was present at the reading of the sentence, accompanied by her granddaughter, as well as the lawyer Tomer Ben Hamo who accompanied her on behalf of legal aid.

The attorney's office also stated that there are no examples of such an incident in the history of the IDF due to the many unique aspects of severity in which, moreover, it is difficult to find similar cases even outside the military system. The military attorney's office requests

a sentence of the maximum - 13 years in prison.

, despite the opposition of Klimi's defense attorneys, she claims that there was reason to convict Klimi of the crime of rape also in relation to the fourth incident in the series of rapes he was accused of, due to the nature of the act. Moreover, she claims that at least in the first incident there was reason to establish that he pointed his gun at her temple during The incident, exactly as the victim testified before the court and as she told the official at the base even before the investigation of the police.

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He claimed that the victim "seduced him".

Kalimi in court (Photo: Yoav Itiel)

The prosecution mentioned that Kalimi, who was a 33-year-old young officer at the time of the rape, settled on a version that a 69-year-old woman "seduced him and dragged him into performing sexual acts, almost against his will."

It is also written that "the defense interrogated her in a long, difficult cross-examination, which penetrated into her soul at times while presenting particularly humiliating and humiliating claims towards her so-called 'seductive' nature."

The military attorney's office claims that the former officer "murdered her soul. His shocking actions led to damages in many areas of her life."

In addition, in the appeal, the attorney's office mentioned that the woman resigned from her job and is not currently working, had to undergo mental health treatments and her medical condition deteriorated to the point that she tried to harm herself.

The appeal also states that "it should be made worse with Kalimi, because the crimes he committed against an elderly woman caused a fatal injury - to her dignity, her autonomy and the desecration of her body and soul. He acted consciously when he was confronted by what he perceived to be 'easy prey'."

"Mercy in punishing sex offenders like him is a zero-sum game," said military prosecutor Major Elisaf Melamed, who filed the appeal. "A judge who shows mercy to a criminal and reduces his sentence, while weakening the general deterrence, does not show mercy to the victims." On the other hand, the defense attorneys Tammy Ullman, Jacob Shlomowitz and Shaf Ullman, also intend to challenge both the conviction of Klimi and the severity of the punishment.

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