Postponement the murder trial of political – human rights activist Nizar Banat.
Postponement the murder trial of political – human rights activist Nizar Banat. Lawyers for Justice pursues the course of the trial of the accused of killing political and human rights activist Nizar Banat, which was held on 6-5-2024 in front the military court in Ramallah. In accordance with the facts and circumstances, the Military court in Ramallah postponed the hearing pending notification of the next hearing by the Defense counsel which was appointed on 20-5-2024, a further hearing was held on 26-4-2024 and was postponed on 6-5-2024 for the same reason that the defendants’ defense counsel was not present. Lawyers for Justice appoints that the trial of 14 preventative security agents who are accused of killing activist Nizar Banat were released on 21-6-2022 by decision of the Military Public Prosecutor in conjunction with the first anniversary of their murder, no substantive proceedings have taken place in the case file in more than eight months, This would disrupt the trial proceedings and hinder access to the objective of the trial, the first session of the trial was held on 14-9-2021 after more than two and a half months of the assassination incident on the 24-6_2021 during the break-in by a security force of the Palestinian Preventive Security of the activists house at dawn hours and was severely beaten using iron and gas that led to his death, on the background of criticism by Palestinian Authority political officials. In this context, lawyers for justice stresses the need to expedite trial proceedings in earnest and to ensure that justice is served, particularly almost three years after the activist’s killing and more than two and a half years since the beginning of the trial. Lawyers for justice, Issued in 8/5/2024.
Lawyers for Justice are closely monitoring the escalating campaign of political arrests and the increasing repression carried out by the security agencies
Lawyers for Justice are closely monitoring the escalating campaign of political arrests and the increasing repression carried out by the security agencies since the beginning of the current month. The group has observed a rise in cases of arrests based on the exercise of freedom of opinion and expression. During this month, the group documented the arrests of three citizens by the Preventive Security Service due to their exercise of freedom of opinion and expression. Among them were the journalist Aqeel Awawdah, citizen Mohammed Hareebat, and Sheikh Mustafa Abu Ara, who were later released on bail. The Public Prosecution has charged the mentioned individuals with various accusations, including defamation against the authority, incitement to racial hatred, and slander against the President, relying on the Penal Code and the Cybercrime Law. Lawyers for Justice view these arrests as arbitrary and not grounded in the law, as they violate the Palestinian Basic Law and international human rights conventions. The group calls for an immediate cessation of these arrests and urges authorities to refrain from pursuing citizens on such grounds. Additionally, the group demands the cancellation of the Cybercrime Law (Law No. 4 of 2018), which was enacted by the Executive Authority with the aim of silencing voices and limiting legitimate criticism on social media. It is worth noting that all cases brought under this law, related to freedom of opinion and expression, have resulted in judicial acquittals. The group believes that resorting to the deprivation of freedom and the detention of citizens based on their exercise of freedom of opinion and expression on social media falls under abuse of power and represents a deviation from the Palestinian Basic Law. This statement was issued by Lawyers for Justice on 27th July 2023.
Nablus Magistrate Court decided to release the political detainee Kaid Abu Al-Rish.
Today, Wednesday, July 27, 2023, Nablus Magistrate Court issued a decision to release the political detainee Kaid Abu Al-Rish on personal bail amounting to 2000 Jordanian dinars. Abu Al-Rish was arrested by forces affiliated with the Preventive Security Service on the 19th of July of the current year. During his detention, he suffered a heart attack, which necessitated his immediate transfer to the hospital. He remained under security guard during his stay at the hospital, but today he has been released following the issuance of the release decision, and the security guards have already left. … Lawyers for Justice 26, July 2023
The second appeal session filed by “Lawyers for Justice” group against the decision issued by the Ministry of Economy, which imposed restrictions on its registration, is scheduled to take place.
The second session regarding the appeal filed by “Lawyers for Justice” group against the decision issued by the Ministry of Economy, which imposed restrictions on its registration, is scheduled to be held tomorrow, June 21, 2023, at the Administrative Court in Ramallah. This appeal is in response to the decision made by the Ministry of Economy in Ramallah on March 26, 2023, which restricted the group’s registration as a civil company based on instructions from the General Intelligence Agency, as communicated to the group. Furthermore, the first session of the aforementioned appeal was held on June 7 of the current month, during which the court adjourned for further examination of the evidence presented by the group. The group reaffirms its commitment, as stated in previous statements, to continue its work that began in 2011, defying all deliberate obstacles it faces, in order to persist in defending human rights. In the same context, the group has been monitoring since the beginning of June, 23 cases of arbitrary arrests, 15 of which are related to political and party plurality, 7 arrests related to student union activities, and one arrest related to freedom of opinion and expression. Therefore, “Lawyers for Justice” group calls upon all colleagues in legal institutions to stand with the group and support it in its legal battle until the unjust decision against it is overturned. … Lawyers for Justice June 20, 2023
The “Lawyers for Justice” group has documented twenty cases of arbitrary arrests since the beginning of June
The group “Lawyers for Justice” closely monitors the alarming escalation of arbitrary arrests carried out by the Palestinian security forces. This campaign has targeted university students, political activists, and human rights defenders. Since the beginning of June, the group has documented 20 cases of arbitrary arrests, conducted by the Preventive Security Service and the General Intelligence Service. The backgrounds and numbers of the detainees documented by the group are distributed as follows: thirteen arrests on the basis of political and party pluralism, six arrests related to university election results, including the arrest of a staff member at Birzeit University, and one arrest related to freedom of opinion and expression. The group has also noticed attempts by the security agencies to circumvent the law through attempts to legitimize detentions. Additionally, they have endangered the rights of detainees by fabricating new charges against them or re-detaining them under the pretext of review or appeal. In addition, the group has observed the presence of signs of torture on the bodies of many detainees, and/or their testimonies before the prosecution or the court indicating that they have been subjected to torture. Therefore, “Lawyers for Justice” group calls upon the Palestinian Authority to immediately and unconditionally release these detainees and ensure their legal rights. The group also urges fellow colleagues in local and international human rights organizations to intervene for the immediate release of all detainees. … Lawyers for Justice June 18, 2023
Due to the non-attendance of the witness (W.N), the scheduled court session for the accused involved in the killing of Nizar Banat at the Special Military Court in Ramallah was once again adjourned.
On this day, Sunday, June 11, 2023, the scheduled court session for the accused involved in the killing of Nizar Banat at the Special Military Court in Ramallah was once again adjourned due to the non-attendance of the witness (W.N). The session was held in the presence of the representatives of the Military Prosecution, the fourteen defendants, and the defense lawyer. The “Lawyers for Justice” group participated in the session in the capacity of an observer, with the intention of ensuring the preservation of fair trial safeguards. Additionally, several colleagues representing both local and international institutions, were present with the same objective in mind. The session opened at 12:18 am and was promptly adjourned at 12:23 due to the Military Prosecution informing the court that the Internal Security at the Police informed the Military Prosecution, today, that the witness is currently on sick leave. The rescheduled court proceedings are scheduled to take place on Monday, June 26, 2023. Accordingly; The “Lawyers for Justice” group calls on local and international human rights institutions to attend the upcoming sessions to ensure that they are conducted impartially and without delay. … Lawyers for Justice June 11, 2023
Postponement of the session regarding the appeal submitted to the Administrative Court by the “Lawyers for Justice” group regarding the decision to restrict its registration.
The Administrative Court in Ramallah decided yesterday, Wednesday, to postpone the court session regarding the appeal filed by “Lawyers for Justice” against the decision to restrict its registration with the Companies Registrar, which the group was notified of on 26-3-2023 until 21-6-2023. In the first session of the trial, the group’s representative presented a portion of their evidence, while also requesting communication with some official departments to provide the court with additional documents and information. The court, on its part, decided to postpone the session in order to consider the group’s representative’s request in this regard. … Lawyers for Justice June 8, 2023
A statement issued by the “Lawyers for Justice” group regarding the summoning of the Public Prosecution of Dr. Azmi Al-Shuaibi, Advisor to the Board of Directors of the Aman Coalition, and Mr. Issam Haj Hussein, Executive Director of the Coalition.
The “Lawyers for Justice” group condemned the summoning of the Public Prosecution in Ramallah yesterday morning, Monday 5.6.2023, to Dr. Azmi Al-Shuaibi, Advisor to the Board of Directors of the Aman Coalition, and Mr. Issam Haj Hussein, Coalition Executive Director, against the background of the fifteenth coalition report published last month entitled “The Occupation, Division, and Political Corruption: A Closed Loop that Feeds Each Other”. The group considered that the investigation with Al-Shuaibi and Hajj Hussein was based on what was published in the coalition report on what is known as the file of laundering the dates of the settlement; an attempt to restrict the work of civil society institutions and organizations and obstruct their activity in the context of their oversight role on official performance. The group affirms that the work of civil society organizations is guaranteed and protected by the laws and regulations established in Palestine, including the Palestinian Basic Law, which guarantees the work of organizations without harassment. Accordingly, the group calls on the Ramallah Prosecution Office to immediately retract these measures against the AMAN Coalition, and also affirms that freedom of criticism is guaranteed and may not be restricted in any way, and that the continuation of these measures is against the aforementioned persons. It is an unjustified bias towards repression. At the time, activists and human rights defenders must be protected, and arrest campaigns must be stopped. Lawyers for Justice 6.6.2023
The Nablus Prosecution Office decided to extend the detention of the political detainee, Muhammad Kony, for 48 hours.
Today, Monday, the Nablus Prosecution office extended the detention of political detainee Muhammad Al-Koni for forty-eight hours after he was interrogated on a political charge, despite obtaining a previous acquittal ruling in a case on the same charge. Al-Koni is a released prisoner, in addition to being a former detainee by the Palestinian security services. During the past years, the Palestinian security agencies took turns arresting him again and again, with a total of nearly twenty arrests, the last of which was last December. It is noteworthy that Al-Koni was arrested at dawn yesterday from his home by members of the General Intelligence Service, the arrest was accompanied by a house search, in addition to the confiscation of belongings related to his work, all this without bringing a judicial search warrant or judicial arrest warrant. … Lawyers for Justice 5, June 2023
Next Wednesday, the first session will be held regarding the administrative appeal submitted by the “Lawyers for Justice” group against the decision of the Ministry of National Economy to restrict the group’s registration as a civil company.
Following the decision issued by the Ministry of National Economy on March 26, 2023 to restrict the registration of the “Lawyers for Justice” group in the corporate registry as a civil company registered with the Ministry of National Economy based on instructions from the General Intelligence agency in Ramallah, the group filed an administrative appeal before the Administrative Court in Ramallah, to cancel the decision and issue a certificate for the year 2023, which will hold its first session on Wednesday, June 7, 2023. in this context; The group confirms what it issued in a previous statement that it operates as a civil company registered with the Ministry of Economy in Ramallah, in line with the decisions and laws in force regarding civil companies to provide legal services and human rights, stated under the Articles of Association of the company with the Company’s Controller. The “Lawyers for Justice” group was also subjected to a systematic series of harassment and incitement that affected its work and its members since the beginning of its work, in an attempt to stop the group from its work in representing and advocating human rights defenders, and political detainees. And documenting the violations they are subjected to. In this context, the group affirms the continuation of its work, which it started in 2011, in defiance of all the harassment it is exposed to. During the month of May, the group followed up 34 cases of arrest against different backgrounds, distributed as follows: (23) Arrests on the basis of political and partisan pluralism, (4) Arrests on the Basis of Peaceful Assembly, (4) Arrests on the basis of student union work, (3) Arrests based on freedom of opinion and expression. In conclusion; Lawyers for Justice calls on colleagues in local and international human rights institutions to support the group in its legal quest to annul the administrative decision to freeze its registration, which came at the request of the General Intelligence Service. … Lawyers for Justice 3, June 2023