Alright! Spain drops Shehadeh 'war crimes' prosecution
A Spanish review board has blocked a local judge from continuing a 'war crimes' prosecution against high-ranking IDF officers and Israeli political leaders that arose out of the targeted assassination of Saleh Shehadeh. Shehadeh (pictured), the head of Hamas' military wing, was killed along with fourteen human shields on July 22, 2002. Spanish Judge Fernando Andreu cannot investigate the IAF bombing in Gaza on July 22, 2002 that killed Hamas terrorist Sheikh Salah Shehadeh and 14 others, Spain's National Court ruled Tuesday.I discussed the Shehadeh case, as well as the principle of 'universal jurisdiction,' at length here, here, here, here and here. You may also want to read this post regarding the recent legislation in Spain restricting the courts' ability to employ 'universal jurisdiction.' That legislation is not applicable to the Shehadeh case.
The Penal Hall of the court decided, in a vote of 14 against 4, not to proceed with the war crimes allegations against seven senior Israeli officials, including former IDF chiefs of staff Dan Halutz and Moshe Ya'alon, and former defense minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer.
The panel supported prosecutors who opposed the probe on the ground that Israel was already investigating the attack, the court said in a statement. The judges announced only their decision, not the specific legal reasoning behind it. The court said that would be published in a matter of days.
The complaint was lodged by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) after Israel had refused to answer the questions from an investigative commission in August 2008.
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PCHR can still appeal to the Supreme Court in an effort to keep the case alive.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:43 PM
2 Comments:
If the Shehadeh case is finally dropped, one avenue of anti-Israel lawfare in Europe will end. But there still remain lots of other legal minefields the Jewish State will have to defuse to have a secure and meaningful existence in the world.
Israel should start a lawsuit against Spain for the expulsion of the Jews in 1492....
And seek the return of all lands, businesses and property + interest...
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