The family and friends of a vibrant Winnipeg teen killed in a terrorist attack 22 years in Israel are bracing for another painful blow this week when her killer is set free.
Fern Shawna Rykiss, 17, died in 1989 when a terrorist hijacked the bus on which she was a passenger and drove it into a ravine, killing 16 and injuring 27.
Hijacker Abd al-Hadi Ghanayem, who survived with a few cuts and bruises, is one of the 1,000 prisoners being released in exchange for Israeli Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit, who has been held captive in Gaza for five years.
On Friday, the mother of the girl who went by Shawna wanted to know if the prisoner swap had been confirmed.
“I was told by two Israeli officials who came to see me after the funeral that he would not be released because he deliberately killed the people,” Joyce Rykiss said in an email to the Winnipeg Free Press.
On the weekend, the Israeli government posted the list of prisoners being released. It included Ghanayem who was sentenced to 16 life terms in Israel, which has no death penalty. Of the 479 prisoners being released in the first stage this week, 279 had been serving life sentences.
Categories: Canada, Israel, Middle East