BEERSHEBA, Israel — An
Israeli court on Tuesday sentenced the former Gaza head of a
major US-based aid agency to 12 years in prison on allegations of funneling
millions of dollars to Hamas.
اضافة اعلان
The Beersheba
district court issued a sentence of “12 years’ prison time, less the detention”
already served for
World Vision’s Mohammed Al-Halabi.
The court had
ruled in June that Halabi was guilty of siphoning off millions of dollars and
tonnes of steel to Hamas.
Halabi, who was
arrested in June 2016 and indicted in August that year, has denied any
irregularities throughout his past six years in detention.
His lawyer
reiterated his claim to innocence following Tuesday’s sentencing.
“He says that
he’s innocent, he did nothing, and there is no evidence,” Maher Hanna said. “On
the contrary, he proved in the court above any reasonable doubt that he made
sure that no money will be (given) directly to Hamas.”
According to
Hanna, if Halabi had admitted to wrongdoings, he would have been released.
“But he insisted
that truth also has value. And for his personal values and for the
international humanitarian work values, he insisted on the truth, and he cannot
admit a thing that he did not do,” the lawyer said.
Much of the
evidence used to try Halabi was kept secret, with Israel citing “security
concerns”, prompting his legal team to question the verdict’s legitimacy.
Hanna said they
would appeal the verdict to the supreme court.
World Vision, a
US-based Christian charity with almost 40,000 employees globally, said in a
statement that “the 12-year sentence announced today ... is deeply
disappointing and in sharp contrast to the evidence and facts of the case.”
Halabi’s
“arrest, six-year trial, unjust verdict, and this sentence are emblematic of
actions that hinder humanitarian work in
Gaza and the West Bank,” the NGO said.
Following
Halabi’s arrest, the Australian government, a major donor to World Vision,
announced it was freezing funding to projects in the Gaza Strip.
A subsequent
Australian government probe found no evidence of embezzlement.
In Gaza,
Halabi’s mother described the anguish of following what she called an unjust
trial.
“I felt like I
was having a nervous breakdown, and I was screaming,” Amal Al-Halabi told AFP.
“This is
injustice. Where is the international community and where are Mohammed’s human
rights?”
Omar Shakir,
Israel and Palestine director at
Human Rights Watch, called the 12-year
sentence a “profound miscarriage of justice”, with the six-year trial and use
of secret evidence constituting a “mockery of due process”.
“He should long
ago have been released,” Shakir said.
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