ISRAEL/GAZA: TEL AVIV COURT UPHOLDS ISRAEL'S RIGHT TO ARREST AND TRY FATAH LEADER BARGHOUTI ON CHARGES OF MASTERMINDING DEADLY ATTACKS ON ISRAELIS / PALESTINAN GUNMAN KILLED TRYING TO ATTACK ISRAELI SETTLEMENT IN GAZA

Record ID: 645785

  • Title: ISRAEL/GAZA: TEL AVIV COURT UPHOLDS ISRAEL'S RIGHT TO ARREST AND TRY FATAH LEADER BARGHOUTI ON CHARGES OF MASTERMINDING DEADLY ATTACKS ON ISRAELIS / PALESTINAN GUNMAN KILLED TRYING TO ATTACK ISRAELI SETTLEMENT IN GAZA
  • Date: 12th December 2002
  • Summary: (W4) TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (DECEMBER 12, 2002) (REUTERS) SV: PEOPLE ATTENDING JAILED FATAH LEADER MARWAN BARGHOUTI'S TRIAL SV: BARGHOUTI'S ATTORNEY JAWAD BULOUS IN COURTROOM SV: PEOPLE ENTERING COURTROOM MV: BARGHOUTI ENTERING COURTROOM ACCOMPANIED BY ISRAELI SECURITY / MAN SCREAMING FROM CROWD "TERRORIST, MURDERER" / BARGHOUTI SHOUTING OUT THAT HE IS A FREEDOM FIGHTER AND THAT THE MAN IS A VICTIM OF THE OCCUPATION SV: SECURITY CALMING MAN IN CROWD DOWN WS: POLICE AND COURT OFFICERS INSIDE COURTHOUSE WITH BARGHOUTI CLOSE OF JUDGE WIDE OF JUDGE; PAN TO BARGHOUTI HANDCUFFED SURROUNDED BY SECURITY WS: EXTERIOR OF COURTHOUSE SV: BANNER SHOWING PHOTOGRAPHS READING "JUSTICE FOR THE VICTIMS OF PALESTINIAN TERRORISM" SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) JAILED MARWAN BARGHOUTI'S ATTORNEY JAWAD BULOUS SAYING: "It's not a verdict, it was a decision in our argument concerning the lack of jurisdiction of Israeli court. It was predicted from our side, it was not a surprise that the judge would reject our claims. This judge is basing his judgement according to the Israeli laws, which we are attacking in fact so it was well known to us from the very beginning that the judge will reject our claims, although we used this stage in order to shed light that the real case is occupation verses people struggling against occupation not as a state against an individual. Marwan Barghouti is a Palestinian, belongs to the Palestinian people who are calling for their freedom and that's what we used to have in this case." MV: CROWD OF PEOPLE GATHERING OUTSIDE COURTHOUSE CLOSE OF DOCUMENTS SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTRY OFFICIAL DANIEL TAUB SAYING: "The judge decided quite clearly that the Israeli courts do have jurisdiction. The crime that Barghouti is tried for are very serious crimes and were committed in Israel. The victims were Israeli citizens and the aim of course was to try and terrorize the Israeli public. If the Israeli courts don't have jurisdiction in this case, than who does?" SCU: ISRAELI MOTHER OF GIRL KILLED IN MOMENT CAFE IN JERUSALEM SHOWING PICTURES OF HER DAUGHTER
  • Embargoed: 27th December 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: TEL AVIV, ISRAEL/ GAZA
  • City:
  • Country: Gaza Israel
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA29LDDP39JOQGKDY3IHVI0C4CY
  • Story Text: An Israeli court has ruled on imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti's petition that Israel does have jurisdiction to try him for his alleged involvement in attacks against Israelis during the last two years of the Palestinian Intifada.
    In Gaza, Israeli forces have killed a Palestinian gunman as he tried to attack a nearby Jewish settlement before dawn.
    A Tel Aviv District Court on Thursday (December 12) upheld Israel's right to arrest and try Palestinian uprising Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti on charges that he masterminded deadly attacks on Israeli civilians.
    The charismatic Barghouti, who was captured by Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Ramallah in April, had argued that Israel had no right to bring him to trial since he is an elected Palestinian lawmaker and a political activist.
    Upon Barghouti's entrance to the courtroom, a man shouted out "terrorist, murderer" and was held back by Israeli security. Barghouti, dressed in a brown prison uniform shouted back from the defence table that he is a freedom fighter and that the man is a victim of the Israeli occupation.
    Israeli Judge Zvi Gurfinkel rejected the arguments presented by Barghouti's defence team, ruling on Thursday that Israel's security is within Israeli court jurisdiction.
    "It was predicted from our side, it was not a surprise that the judge would reject our claims", said Barghouti's attorney Jawad Bulous following the trial and added that "the real case is occupation verses people struggling against occupation not as a state against an individual".
    "The judge decided quite clearly that the Israeli courts do have jurisdiction. The crime that Barghouti is tried for are very serious crimes and were committed in Israel. The victims were Israeli citizens and the aim of course was to try and terrorize the Israeli public. If the Israeli courts don't have jurisdiction in this case, than who does?" said Israeli Foreign Ministry official Daniel Taub.
    Israel has said the trial will show a close link between violence in a two-year-old uprising for statehood and the top echelons of President Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority.
    Barghouti, often named among Arafat's potential successors, is leader of Arafat's Fatah faction in the West Bank.
    Barghouti has denied charges that he was responsible the killings of 26 Israelis and has said he will use the proceedings to indict Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
    In fresh violence, an Israeli army commander said that two armed Palestinians tried to break through the fence surrounding the Jewish settlements of Gush Katif in Gaza.
    Troops in the area shot at them, killing one man while the second escaped, he said.
    A rifle and a pair of pliers were found beside the body of the Palestinian who the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine identified as one of its militants, saying he had planned "an armed attack against the settlement Netzer Hazani in southern Gaza," in response to an Israeli raid in the strip earlier this month that killed 10 Palestinians.
    Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been a frequent target for Palestinian militant groups who see them as usurpers of lands they want for a state.
    At least 1,712 Palestinians and 668 Israelis have been killed since the start of a Palestinian uprising for statehood in September 2000 after peace talks failed.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register