FREE THE JERICHO SIX

Facts About the Trial

On 25 April, 2002, four Palestinians were tried in a kangaroo-court by the Palestinian Authority and sentenced to between 1 to 18 years in prison.

Hamdi Quran was sentenced to 18 years in prison with hard labor, Basel Al-Asmar to 12 years, Majdi Rimawi given an eight-year term and Ahed Gholmi sentenced for one year. The four detainees were accused of assassinating the far-right Israeli Tourism Minister, Rehevam Ze'evi last year. This action was claimed by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) as a response to the assassination of PLFP leader Abu Ali Mustafa on 27 August 2001.

Immediately following the announcement of the sentence, the four detainees were transferred with two other Palestinian civilians, Ahmad Saadat and Fuad Shubeiki, to Jericho Prison as part of an agreement to lift the siege on the Ramallah headquarters of Yasser Arafat. The fact that the agreement was never published and the individuals concerned were not informed about its details or provided with proper legal representation leads Palestinian human rights organizations to believe that there was no written agreement. Rather, the agreement was of a political nature that came with letters of assurance from foreign countries.

Following these events, five Palestinian human rights NGOs - the Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary, Al Haq, Addameer, Mandela and the Palestinian Bar Association - formed a committee to investigate the legality of these procedures and provide the six civilians with the necessary legal support.

On 9 May 2002, a delegation from this committee was able to visit the six in Jericho Prison. The committee made extensive contact with different people involved in the imprisonment in order to determine how the court was formed, what its jurisdiction was and if it was possible to appeal the decision. These activities came in response to a press statement made by the Minister of Culture, Yasser Abed Rabbo, which indicated that the prisoners have a right to appeal the decision of the court.

As a result of these investigations and the visit to Jericho Prison it became clear to the committee that the court was illegal and the procedures that were followed during the court hearing were unjust. Furthermore, the decision itself was unjust according to the law.

Below are the initial findings of the committee in regards to the establishment of the court and its procedures

1. As far as the committee can determine, there was no legal decision or statement issued by an authorized body to establish this court according to the current Palestinian law. Furthermore, there was no legal decision or statement that specified the court's procedures, functions or mechanism of appeal.

2. The military court was established according to an oral decision by the chairman of the Palestinian National Authority, Yasser Arafat. This oral statement did not identify the procedures of the court, its authority for issuing a sentence and the mechanism of appeal.

3. According to the decision of the chairman mentioned in (2), the court consisted of three people. The head of the court was Ribhe Arafat, a military person in charge of the Israeli-Palestinian District Coordinating Office (DCO). Also presiding over the decisions of the court were Mohammed Salah Abu Salah, the head of police in Ramallah and Al Bireh governorates and Mr. Munjid who is an employee of the Military Intelligence. All of these people have no legal training, background or authority.

4. The prosecution was represented before this court by Mr. Salim, who works as prosecutor for the Military Prosecution while the defendants' were appointed Brigadier Sameh Abdul Majeed, deputy head of the General Intelligence in the Northern governorate, as their defendant. Majeed is not a lawyer and has no legal background.

5. There was no written charge sheet presented before this court and none of the four defendants were informed in a written manner of their charges.

6. The entire court hearing took around two hours. The hearing was spread over three sessions held on three consecutive days.

7. During the first session the prosecution orally informed the four defendants of their charges:

   • Hamdi Quran, three charges. Intentional killing of the Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavem Ze'evi, breaking the cease-fire and threatening the higher national interest, and possessing weapons without a license.
   • Basil Al Asmar, three charges. Participating in the killing of Minister Ze'evi, breaking the cease-fire and threatening the higher national interest, and possessing weapons without a license.
   • Majdi Al Rimawi, planning the killing of Minister Ze'evi.
   • Ahed Abu Gholmi, hiding wanted fugitives.

   The defense representative asked to postpone the court in order to study the charges, materials and leaflets and the session was halted until the second day.

8. The defense representative found that there was no written evidence or confessions for any of the charges outlined above. It was discovered that none of the four defendants had given confessions or provided signed affidavits to any of the charges attributed to them. The only material presented before the court in its second session were notes written by unidentified people from discussions held with the four defendants while they were imprisoned in Ramallah before the siege. There were no signatures or written verification of the veracity of these notes from the four defendants. These notes were presented as affidavits yet they were not prepared during formal interrogation or by any authorized personnel.

9. The second session saw the prosecutor present these papers and ask for a guilty sentence. The defense representative made a political speech and asked for them to be found innocent. The session was then halted until the next day.

10. In the third session the guilty verdict and the sentences were passed without any time given for discussion to the defense representative or the prosecutor. The decision found all of the accused guilty with the following sentences:

    • Hamdi Quran, sentenced to imprisonment with hard labor for 18 years for the first charge, 8 years for the second charge and 6 months for the third charge. The 18-year sentence will apply.
    • Basel Al Asmar was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for the first charge, 8 years for the second charge and 6 months for the third charge. The 12-year sentence will apply.
    • Majdi Rimawi was sentenced to 8 years for the charge attributed to him.
    • Ahed Abu Gholmi, was sentenced to 1 year imprisonment.

11. The Military Court did not allow for bail. The decisions were final and no appeal was permitted.

12. Yasser Arafat ratified the court decisions immediately.

13. The procedures above were outlined to the committee by the four detainees during a visit held on 9 May 2002.