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06-30-2009, 02:27 PM
Spain closes Gaza Strip bombing case
By JPOST.COM STAFF (updates@jpost.com)
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.
Earlier this month, the Jerusalem Post reported exclusively (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1244371065705&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull) that the Spanish Appellate Court was due to make a decision on the matter.
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 the reasoning 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.Article continued at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1246296537529
By JPOST.COM STAFF (updates@jpost.com)
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.
Earlier this month, the Jerusalem Post reported exclusively (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1244371065705&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull) that the Spanish Appellate Court was due to make a decision on the matter.
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 the reasoning 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.Article continued at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1246296537529