A court in Beersheba sentenced two men to prison Wednesday for looting sound equipment from the Nova festival massacre site just two days after the October 7 terror attack. The thieves exploited the chaos and grief at the scene to steal gear worth 800,000 shekels (~$260,399) that belonged to Matan Lior, who was killed at the festival after heroically working to rescue victims under fire.
Ram Shahin, identified as the ringleader who also lied to police investigators, was sentenced to seven years in prison, fined 60,000 shekels, and ordered to pay 75,000 shekels in compensation to Lior’s parents plus 25,000 shekels to his business partner. Daniel Hasson, who tried to sell the stolen equipment and pleaded guilty under an amended indictment, received 40 months in prison, a 30,000 shekel fine, and was ordered to pay 40,000 shekels to Lior’s parents and 15,000 shekels to his partner. Both also received suspended sentences. A third defendant will be sentenced later.
Judge Amir Doron condemned what he called the “extreme moral depravity” of the defendants’ actions, describing their conduct as cynical, calculated, and manipulative exploitation of the helplessness and grief at the massacre site to profit from abandoned property. The court emphasized that the crimes violated human dignity and desecrated the dead, while severely damaging the rule of law, social solidarity, and public trust during an unprecedented national crisis. The judge set harsher sentencing ranges than either side requested to send a decisive and deterrent judicial message to anyone who desecrates the honor of the fallen and steals their property.