The video recording of two former Sydney nurses saying they would kill Israeli patients has been thrown out by the presiding judge and can no longer be used as evidence against them in the upcoming trial.
During a conversation with Israeli content creator Max Veifer on the app Chatruletka last February, nurses Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh said they would harm Israeli patients (Abu Lebdeh: “I won’t treat them, I’ll kill them” ) and ( Nadir: “You have no idea how many Israeli s*** dogs came to this hospital, and I sent them to hell.”)
When Veifer asked what would happen if “just Jewish people” come for treatment, Nadir appeared to have disconnected the call.
NSW Judge Michael McHugh ruled Tuesday that evidence obtained improperly or in contravention of an Australian law cannot be admitted.
“Ultimately, I have come to the firm view that all the video evidence must be excluded from each of the trials of the applicants,” the judge said.
This comes after the nurses argued that the recording – taken by Israeli content creator Max Veifer during a conversation – was obtained without their consent, thus breaching NSW laws.
“This man [Mr Veifer] is running his own private … vigilante activity,” Nadir’s barrister, Greg James KC, has argued.
Both former nurses have pleaded not guilty, and will be facing trial in August. The prosecution will have to rely on Veifer’s testimony instead of the video itself.
“Now you can threaten to kill Israeli patients in a hospital, brag about killing Jews, openly express hatred on camera, but if the person recording didn’t get your permission first, the evidence is ruled inadmissible, the threats are no longer visible to the court, and the people who made them get to argue that there is not enough evidence,” Veifer said in a video after the ruling.
“What a dangerous message to send. Not don’t threaten Jews, but make sure nobody records you doing it. Even if someone does record you bragging about killing Israelis and threatening Israeli patients while you’re a nurse in a hospital, just say you didn’t consent to being recorded.
“That’s apparently enough. No need to warn the public. No need to make sure people know who they’re trusting with their lives. No need to ask whether someone who posts like this should be treating vulnerable patients, because if you didn’t consent to the recording, then apparently the video doesn’t exist.”
“With such weakness, the Jewish community in Australia should be prepared for more cases like this, because there is no deterrent. It’s the Wild West.”
