Israeli who murders ex-wife in Thailand pardoned

An Israeli man convicted of murdering his ex-wife and dissecting her body in Thailand eight year ago will be released soon and return to Israel, after getting clemency from the king of Thailand. The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed to Xinhua on Tuesday that Eli Cohen, who killed his ex-wife in 2004 and dumped her body parts in a suitcase in the Bangkok River, will be released from a Thai prison in six months. Cohen was originally sentenced to life imprisonment by a Thai court over his murder conviction. However, he managed to convince the judges that he did not plan the murder and that it happened " in the heat of the moment." He had twice appealed for pardon from the Thai authorities. After his first appeal was rejected, his second pardon request was granted and he will be eligible for release in May. Israel would not be able to try him again as he had already served his term for the murder. The family of the victim said they will fight this decision in any way that they can. "I'd rather die than see the person who cut my daughter into pieces and threw her into the river walking down the street as if nothing happened," the mother of the victim Rivka Amsalem told the Ynet news website. The family also accused Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai of involvement in the efforts for Cohen's release, an allegation that was dismissed by the ministry. "The minister has no connection to the release of the murderer and is of the opinion that a murderer, any murderer, must spend the rest of his days behind bars," said a statement on Yishai's behalf sent from the ministry.