Public Statement issued by Lawyers for Justice Group regarding the trial of the human rights activist – Nizar Banat.
Lawyers for justice Group follows the continuation of the trial proceedings in the case of the murder of political and human rights activist Nizar Banat, whose first hearings began on 7-9-2021 and continue to date. Another trial hearing was held on 17-11-2024, which was postponed to complete the evidence of the accused’s agent. The hearing was postponed to this end until the date of the 01-12-2024. The Group notes that the trial proceedings, which have been for more than three years, remain in the role of providing defense evidence, while more than five hearings to bring a defense witness to the accused are frequently postponed. In this context, the Group of Lawyers for Justice emphasizes the need to respect the guarantees of a fair trial, including expeditious adjudication of the criminal case. Till here, Issued in 19/11/2024. Lawyers for Justice.
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.
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.
The General Intelligence releases a witness to martyr Nizar Banat assassination.
Today, March 5, 2023, the Public Prosecution issued a decision to release the political activist, the cousin of the martyr Nizar Banat, and one of the witnesses to his assassination, Ammar Banat. Forces from the General Intelligence arrested the political activist, Ammar Banat, from his workplace in Hebron, Thursday, March 2, 2023. This is not the first time he has been arrested, but his arrest has been repeated since the assassination of the martyr Nizar Banat to pressure him not to testify before the Special Military Court at first, and to express his opinion in the case of the assassination of Nizar Banat and other public issues. … Lawyers for Justice March 5, 2023
Ongoing Crisis; The Systematic Nature of the Suppression of Freedoms in the West Bank
You can view the electronic copy of the annual report (March 2021-March 2022), entitled ” Ongoing Crisis: The Systematic Nature of the Suppression of Freedoms in the West Bank” through the following link: http://lawyers4justice.ps/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/l4j-annual-report-2021-2022-en-online.pdf
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.
The trial of the accused in the case of assassinations’ of Nizar Banat has been postponed
The military court in Ramallah today June 1st, has decided to postpone the trial of the accused in the case of assasenation of the political critic Nizar Banat to June 13th, June 2022, until the accused defendant’s attorney manages to bring the witnesses to the court. The defendant’s attorney refused to disclose their names, because of the incitement they are facing on social media, according to him.
The trial of the accused in the assassination of Nizar Banat case has been postponed
The trial of the accused in the case of assassination of the political activist Nizar Banat has been postponed this morning Sunday 29/05/2022, after the Military Prosecution has stated that they had received a letter from the Legal Department of Military Intelligence says; According to the failure to transporting the accused from their place of detention in Jericho Prison to the place of the trial, in the Special Military Court in Ramallah, due to the failure to complete the coordination procedures for their transportation due to the general conditions. Therefore, the court has decided based on what was stated by the Military Prosecution; Postponing the progress of the trial to Wednesday, 01/06/2022 at 10:00 am.