Postponement of trial of alleged murderers of political and human rights activist Nizar Banat.
The trial of the accused in the case of the murder of political and human rights activist Nizar Banat was held at the Ramallah Military Court on Monday, 20-5-2024 During the trial, the defense counsel of all 14 previously released defendants, presented to the court witness Samir Abu Zarour, who’s retired since 2017. He was the head of the autopsy department of the Ministry of Justice. prior to his retirement in 2017. He represented the Independent Human Rights Commission in attendance at the autopsy of the late Nizar Banat following his murder on 24 July 2021 without participating in the autopsy. During the ongoing trial since September 2021, the court heard the testimony of the doctor and he was discussed by the defense counsel and the military prosecution. He also stated that he hadn’t applied for the examination, and what can be highlighted in this context is the assertion by the defense witness of the accused that the cause of death of Nizar Banat was due to an abnormal cause of death. In addition to determining the proportion of injuries on the dead person’s body by 21% of the body area, Distributed on the head, face and shoulder from the back, upper and lower limbs and back area, The witness also stated that these blows to the deceased’s body did not result to death, according to him. And the witness concluded that the cause of death, according to the autopsy committee, was caused by traumatic trauma resulting in death, the cause of death, from the witness’ point of view, was due to asphyxiation because of congestion in the face of the deceased, as described. At the end of the trial proceedings, the defense counsel requested to notice a witness and to be brought, and also requested that the next trial hearing be confidential, so that the testimony of the said witness would relate to national security, for that reasons, next hearing was postponed to 3.6-2024. In this context, Lawyer for Justice considers that the holding of the trial to be confidential contravenes the revolutionary Code of Criminal Procedure in force of 1979 and its amendments. Till here, Lawyers for Justice Issued in 21/5/2024.
The latest updates in the case of the accused in the assassination of political critic Nizar Banat
The trial session of the 14 whom are accused in the case of the assassination of the critic and political activist Nizar Banat; was held this morning, 03/07/2022, in the Military Court in Ramallah. All the accused were present, the defense attorney, a representative of Lawyers for Justice, and representatives of two other institutions, one local and one international to cover the progress of the trial. And It is worth noting that this is the first session a year after the assassination of Banat. And to expedite the completion of the trial, according to the defense attorney; He dispensed with the witness he had presented before (Major-General in Security), also he asked the court to give him a time limit, so that he and the competent authorities could bring an international expert from outside Palestine to present it as one of his evidence. The details of the expert’s name and address were not disclosed, due to the sensitivity of the expert’s name and to prevent any influence of public opinion on the expert. Then the defense attorney gave a copy of the letter in which the details of the international expert were included to the court, and asked them to reserve the letter, and include it in the trial papers without anyone viewing it. He also asked the court to assist in the procedures for bringing the international expert to Palestine, which needs time up to two months, and also for his desire to benefit from the judicial leave from 15/07/2022 until 01/09/2022. The court agreed to the defense attorney’s request that the next session be the last period for summoning witnesses from his side, thus, the next session will be on Tuesday, 06/09/2022 at 10:00 am.
The trial of the accused in the assassination case of Nizar Banat is postponed without an official court session
In the supervisory role played by Lawyers for Justice group, by attending all the trials of the acؤused in the case of the assassination of political activist Nizar Banat from the beginning until today, the most recent updates in this case; the trial session of the accused was postponed, first from 10:00 am – as it was supposed to be held – until 02:00 pm, then it was postponed again to Sunday on 6/26/2022, without holding the official session in the Military Court in Ramallah, due to absence of defendants’ lawyer for his preoccupation in other cases.
The trial of the accused in assassination of the political activist Nizar Banat has been postponed
The military court in Ramallah has postponed the trial of the accused in assassination of the political activist Nizar Banat today morning, until June 20th, upon a previous request from the defendant’s attorney to postpone due to his sickness.