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Israel: ex-director of World Vision in Gaza found guilty of embezzlement for Hamas

2022-06-15T16:21:10.984Z


After six years of secret proceedings, the former Palestinian director of the NGO World Vision in Gaza, Mohammed Halabi, was found guilty on Wednesday 15...


After six years of secret proceedings, the former Palestinian director of the NGO World Vision in Gaza, Mohammed Halabi, was found guilty on Wednesday June 15 by an Israeli court of embezzlement for the benefit of Hamas, a verdict immediately qualified as "

politics

" by his lawyers.

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The Jewish state accuses Mohammed Halabi of having embezzled tens of millions of dollars for the benefit of Hamas, an armed Islamist movement in power in this Palestinian enclave.

Mohammed Halabi had pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him.

After his arrest in June 2016, Australia, which had donated millions of dollars to charities in the Palestinian Territories, including World Vision (a US charity), announced the suspension of its funding for programs in the Palestinian Territory. Gaza and the opening of an investigation.

The latter had concluded that there was no suggestion of embezzlement.

Another investigation commissioned by the NGO World Vision concluded in 2017 that there was no evidence of embezzlement or membership of Hamas.

But after years of secret court proceedings, with Israel citing security concerns, the Beershava District Court (south) found Mohammed Halabi guilty of membership in a terrorist group, Hamas, of financing terrorist activities and of having "

transmitted information to the enemy

", according to the judgment consulted on the spot by AFP.

"

The Accused played an active and significant role in Hamas activity and assisted Hamas for years in various ways, including through the transfer of money and material which he knew

“, continues the judgment.

"Political" decision?

The decision "

has nothing to do with the facts, it is totally political

", denounced Maher Hanna, the lawyer of Mohammed Halabi, who announced his intention to appeal.

Justice does not define “

from which projects, from which contribution of a government these sums would have reached him and how he would have transmitted them to Hamas

”, underlined the lawyer.

Until today, Mohammed asks me the same question: have the judges said what exactly they are accusing me of?

“, he added to the court.

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World Vision, also known by its French name of World Vision, is "

extremely disappointed

" with this verdict, also declared at the end of the hearing Sharon Marshall, a communications manager for this humanitarian organization.

"

For us, the trial is riddled with irregularities and there was a lack of substantial evidence made public

" by the Israeli authorities, she said, stressing that the NGO supported the decision of Mohammed Halabi to appeal this decision while the justice must soon rule on the sentence.

Mohammed Halabi's guilty verdict testifies to a failure of justice.

To detain this man for six years based largely on undisclosed evidence is to flout the notion of a fair trial.

To continue to detain him cruelly is deeply unjust

,” the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed its "

serious concerns

" on Tuesday evening, particularly regarding the "

lack of evidence

".

The UN human rights office reiterates its concerns that international fair trial standards have not been met in this case, including the significantly extended period of detention which may -to have already made the detention of Mohammed Halabi an arbitrary detention

,” he added.

World Vision presents itself as one of the largest humanitarian organizations with more than 40,000 employees in nearly 100 countries and is particularly dedicated to the sponsorship of children.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-06-15

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