A senior Palestinian aide said on Thursday that the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has demanded the Minister of Justice, Farid Al-Jallad to cancel rulings against Palestinians convicted of being spies to Israel.
The official said at least 35 will be retried. At least ten of them are sentenced by Palestinian courts to death.
Israel on the other hand, has repeatedly requested Abbas to cancel the sentences and not to sign orders of the execution of the collaborators.
Palestinians regard the collaborators and the spies as traitors and usually they face death either at a state security court or only though resistance groups courts.
Human Rights organizations, however, accuse that the state security courts are not qualified and lack proper legal procedures, and usually ends in one session.
Rafik Al-Husseini, a senior PA official said there will be a fair trial for those who will be retried, and there will be more sessions and hearings.
“I think that the President is mulling canceling the state security courts,†said Al-Husseini. “These courts lack legal basis and do not allow the accused to appeal for higher courts.â€Â
He added that Abbas will not approve the death bills.
Hamas, on the other hand, strongly slammed Abbas’ demands saying this contradicts the reforms the Palestinian Authority is talking about.
“This is a serious and dangerous decision. If made, it contradicts the seriousness of the PA to carry out reforms. It blows up the initiatives for correcting the errors n the Palestinian especially that it touches on one of the sensitive problems that our people suffered tremendously from,†Musheer Al-Masri spokesman of Hamas said.
Al-Masri accused that this demand indicates the pressure the PA is under from Israel, while Israel is not giving any concessions. He held the PA responsible for any consequences of this decision, since the PA is the body that should handle this issue and if not handled chaos might erupt, especially when it comes to death penalty.
Demands by Abbas were welcomed by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights and demanded Abbas to cancel the state security courts and the other death sentences issued but not executed. The center also demanded the Palestinian Authority to cancel the death penalty as a whole.
