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Jerusalem, December 28 1999
Another Palestinian
sentenced to death by notorious high military court
The
Palestinian high military court gave its judgment last night
of capital sentence for gun shooting for corporal Hussein
Hashem Saleh Abu-Nahel (22). He was sentenced to death for
killing policeman Ayman Mahmoud Abu-Nahel (23), who was his
relative.
Since the establishment of
the Palestinian Authority (PA), 27 Palestinians have been
sentenced to death by this court and the state security
court. 3 of them have been executed, one this year.
Hussein’s brother Saleh
Abu-Nahel was sentenced to six months imprisonment for
illegal possession of weapons. Further, the court found
their cousin Imad Nu’man Saleh Abu-Nahel not guilty of the
charges brought against him.
Because of what they
labeled as illegal procedures of the court, the defense
advocates Abdel-Rahman Abu Nasser and Abdel-Naser Abu Holy,
withdrew from the case to protest against the unfair trial.
Hussein Abu-Nahel appointed his third defense lawyer, but
the court refused to accept him. Instead, the court
appointed three military lawyers for the defense, all
working for the Palestinian police.
The court did not hear any
witnesses on behalf of the sentenced.
The court consisted of
General Ismail al-Shafaei (chairman), Colonel Mohammed Awwad
and lieutenant Abdel-Karim al-Masri. The military Attorney
General Khaled al-Qidreh represented the general prosecution
with the police colonel Mohammed Amara. The defense was
represented by the court appointed lawyers Mahmoud Shawki,
Ala’ Agha and Ihab al-Assar.
The Palestinian Human
Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG) strongly protests against
the procedures of the Palestinian high military court. We
encourage President Arafat not to sign the judgment. We
demand a fair trial for all prisoners, and call to cancel
all of the 27 sentences and bring the sentenced before
civilian courts. We also protest against the practice of
death sentences in the Palestinian judicial system. We
demand the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) to
legislate a new law to prevent the execution of capital
sentence judgments.
For
more information, contact the PHRMG office: Tel: 972 2
6262463, Fax: 972 2 6262378, E-mail:
admin@phrmg.org
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