Arabic version: محكمة الاستئناف تسمح باستخدام فيديو في محاكمة ممرضين

According to ABC News, an unedited video will be allowed as evidence in the trial of two former Bankstown Hospital nurses accused of making menacing comments about Israeli people. The Court of Appeal overturned a District Court of NSW decision last month that had excluded the video.

Sarah Abu Lebdeh and Ahmad Rashad Nadir have pleaded not guilty to using a carriage service to menace and harass after a conversation with an Israeli influencer on the cam chat app Chatruletka in February last year. Abu Lebdeh has also pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of threatening violence to a group, after allegedly making threats to Israeli patients during the chat.

Defence lawyers had argued that the video chat was improperly obtained and breached privacy laws. Prosecutors appealed after the District Court ruling. The Court of Appeal’s decision means the unedited recording is no longer inadmissible evidence. Reasons for the judgment have been provided to the parties to consider which parts may be subject to suppression or non-publication orders before the trial. Those reasons cannot be published until a further court order.

During Court of Appeal arguments, the Crown and defence disputed where the recording was made. Crown barrister Paul Holdenson KC said the recording was created in Israel by influencer Max Veifer, whose real name is Max Ilinsky, while the defence argued the alleged offence was partly committed in NSW because a microphone at the hospital captured the sound. Holdenson said the Crown case would be significantly affected without the video, which he said would allow a jury to assess the conversation’s context, tone, gestures and expressions. The former nurses, who were sacked after the incident, are due to stand trial at the end of August.