A Palestinian Military Court in the Gaza Strip sentenced, Wednesday, a Palestinian man to death after convicting him of collaborating with the Israeli occupation. The man’s wife was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.The Hamas-affiliated Palestinian Information Center, reported that the convicted collaborator (Z. H) provided Israeli military and security personnel sensitive information that led to the assassination of a number of Palestinians.
His wife was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for collaborating with the Israeli military.
Spokesperson of the Ministry of Interior in Gaza, Islam Shahwan, stated on his Facebook page that the court ruling is preliminary, and that an appeal was filed against it.
Shahwan added that the execution will not take place before all legal proceedings are concluded, when the court either voids the ruling or reinstates it.
The Palestinian law allowed the execution of those convicted of collaborating with the enemy, drug smuggling and trafficking and murder.
Numerous human rights and legal groups repeatedly urged the government to abolish the death penalty. Several executions have been carried out in Gaza this year, including three who were executed in July.
It is worth mentioning that the Hamas-led government in Gaza, and its legal system, has issued and carried out several executions of convicted collaborators and criminals despite protests made by human rights groups, and despite the fact that such orders cannot be implemented without the approval of the Palestinian President.
In July, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, (PCHR) based in Gaza, issued a statement against the death penalty as it is a serious and unjustified violation to the right to life, and is also considered a form of “cruel and inhumane treatment”.
The PCHR added that only the Palestinian President can ratify the death penalty, as this is an exclusive power to the president under the Code of Criminal Procedures (3) of 2001, and the implementation of death sentences without the President’s ratification constitutes a violation of the law and the constitution.
