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Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Scoobah who wrote (741)	11/29/2001 8:13:47 AM
From: Scoobah	Respond to of 32591

Rebirth of Nazi-era style Inquisitions to be challenged: the Future of Humanity lies in the balance. Sharon's Belgian lawyer to argue case is political By Herb Keinon BRUSSELS (November 28) - The real purpose of the case against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, to be heard today in an appeals court here, is not to provide justice for the victims of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, but rather to attack Israel, a senior Israeli official here said yesterday. This is one of the arguments that Sharon's lawyer, Adrien Masset, is expected to use on Sharon's behalf. Among the other arguments he is expected to employ are: * Hearing the case in a Belgian court is an impingement on Israel's legal system, since the case was already heard by the Kahan Commission, which released its findings nearly two decades ago. * Belgium has no status in the case, since the plaintiffs are not Belgian, the defendant is not Belgian, and the alleged offense did not take place on Belgian soil. * Belgium has signed the agreement setting up the International Criminal Court, which states that it will hear cases of crimes against humanity from this time onward, but not retroactively. Belgium, however, is considering trying a case that happened 20 years ago. * Sharon enjoys diplomatic immunity. Belgian law will be brought in to support this argument, since under it the Belgian king has absolute immunity. In addition, there are also special provisions that are enacted if the prime minister or any of his ministers are brought to trial. Masset is expected to ask how this can be true for a Belgian national, but not for others. The hearing, which has been followed by intensive media coverage - the majority unfavorable to Sharon - will be held behind closed doors. No decision is expected today. According to the senior Israeli official, had the plaintiffs been interested in justice, they would not have waited until Sharon became prime minister to initiate proceedings against him. Another Israeli diplomatic official said that Israel is hoping that the court will take the case off the docket, a move that he said would "clear the air" between Israel and Belgium. "It is impossible to ignore the fact that this case has harmed the relations between the two states," he said, adding that the Palestinians have taken advantage of the Belgian law for their own political purposes. "No state can accept a situation in which another state has the authority to judge it or its leader," he said. "It is not easy to conduct normal relations with a heavy cloud like this is hanging over your head." Israeli officials are hoping that the three-man court will follow the footsteps of Magistrate Patrick Collignon, who sent the case back to the district attorney for his input in September, saying that in his opinion Belgium does not have jurisdiction to try it. In a move that angered senior Justice Ministry officials, the district attorney - who could have decided to drop the case - decided to pursue it out of "political considerations." One Justice Ministry source speculated that one of the reasons had to do with the September 11 attacks in New York, and the feeling in its immediate aftermath that if Belgium dropped the case, it would have been a target for terrorists.