[1/2] Rana al-Halaq, the mother of Iyad al-Halaq, an unarmed autistic Palestinian man who was shot dead by Israeli police, sits surrounded by pictures of her son in her family home in East Jerusalem, July 6, 2023. REUTERS/Sinan Abu MayzerJERUSALEM, July 6 (Reuters) - An Israeli court on Thursday acquitted a policeman who shot dead an autistic Palestinian in 2020, ruling that the victim was mistaken for a militant under circumstances arising from the "unique intensity" of trying to secure Jerusalem. Prosecutors in 2021 filed negligent manslaughter charges in Jerusalem District Court against the policeman. The Israeli justice ministry department, which oversees investigations of the police, said it will decide how to proceed after studying the verdict. The unarmed Halaq ran away, prompting a pursuit in which one officer shot at his legs and missed, after which the defendant fatally shot him in the stomach, the indictment said.

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Persons: Rana, Iyad, Sinan Abu Mayzer JERUSALEM, Miriam Lomp, clasping, Kheiry, Halaq, Dan Williams, Roleen Tafakji, Sinan Abu Mayzer, Devika Organizations: REUTERS, Prosecutors, Court, police, West Bank, Palestinian Foreign Ministry, Thomson Locations: East Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel, Old City