JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli taxi driver who unwittingly drove a suicide bomber to an attack was convicted in a precedent-setting case that could make drivers responsible for their passengers' crimes, judicial sources said Thursday.
A district court convicted Ofer Schwartzbaum, 38, of "causing death by negligence" after he ferried a Palestinian bomber to Tel Aviv where the man blew himself up, killing four people in an attack at a bus stop last December.
Schwartzbaum maintained during his trial in Tel Aviv that he was innocent because he did not know his passenger, whom he drove for 6 miles, had planned to carry out a bombing.
"We have set a norm that any driver, not only a taxi driver, should be aware that in the current circumstances whenever they take a passenger from such a location there is always a chance that the person might want to carry out a harmful action (against Israelis)," a Justice Ministry source said.
"The circumstances (in which we live) dictate that an average person should be aware of the possible dangers of his actions," the source added.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...573&e=12&u=/nm/20040506/od_nm/mideast_taxi_dc
A district court convicted Ofer Schwartzbaum, 38, of "causing death by negligence" after he ferried a Palestinian bomber to Tel Aviv where the man blew himself up, killing four people in an attack at a bus stop last December.
Schwartzbaum maintained during his trial in Tel Aviv that he was innocent because he did not know his passenger, whom he drove for 6 miles, had planned to carry out a bombing.
"We have set a norm that any driver, not only a taxi driver, should be aware that in the current circumstances whenever they take a passenger from such a location there is always a chance that the person might want to carry out a harmful action (against Israelis)," a Justice Ministry source said.
"The circumstances (in which we live) dictate that an average person should be aware of the possible dangers of his actions," the source added.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...573&e=12&u=/nm/20040506/od_nm/mideast_taxi_dc
