Posted on 09/29/2009 11:12:53 AM PDT by mojito
Westminster Magistrates court in central London postponed on Tuesday evening a hearing over whether to issue an arrest warrant for Defense Minister Ehud Barak on the grounds that he committed "war crimes" due his part in IDF Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip, last January.
In the first case of its kind since the publication of the Goldstone Report, a group of Palestinians had appealed to the court seeking Barak's arrest.
Despite the petition, Barak decided not to change his plans for his UK visit, with his bureau releasing a statement saying: "No arrest warrant has been issued, and in any event, he has immunity due to his being a minister in the government."
During the proceedings, the Palestinians were represented by two London law firms - Irvine Thanvi and Natas (ITN) and Imran Khan and Partners - which on their behalf applied for an international arrest warrant, claiming that Barak committed war crimes and breaches of the Geneva Convention during the winter Gaza operation.
The British Foreign Ministry issued a response confirming the proceedings, but refused to take a stance on the matter.
"We can confirm that Ehud Barak is in the UK. He is scheduled to meet the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister for discussions on the Middle East peace process, Gaza and Iran," a Foreign Office spokesperson said. "We are aware that Westminster Magistrates' Court have received an application for a warrant for the arrest of Ehud Barak but we cannot comment on live legal issues."
Barak is currently in the UK and is set to address a Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) reception during the Labour Party's annual conference in Brighton, on the south coast of England, on Tuesday night.
The legal request was filed after 16 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip instructed Al-Mezan, a Gaza-based human rights group, to issue the charges. Al-Mezan in turn instructed the two London firms to represent the group.
Prior to the hearing, a spokesman for ITN told The Jerusalem Post that an arrest warrant had been lodged and that the biggest hurdle would be Barak's diplomatic immunity, but added that he was confident that they had a strong legal argument which would override the issue of immunity.
He said that should the court not decide whether to issue the warrant, then his firm would appeal for an injunction to stop Barak from leaving the country.
While the court postponed further proceedings, it did not specify at what point those proceedings would begin.
A loophole in British law - in the International Criminal Court Act 2001 and the Criminal Justice Act 1988 - allows private individual complaints of "war crimes" to be lodged against military personnel, even if they are not British citizens and the alleged crimes were committed elsewhere.
Pro-Palestinian groups in Britain and other countries have been trying to exploit the loophole against IDF officers and Israeli leaders. Israel is working with the British government to change the law.
Barak is set to meet British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday and Foreign Minister David Miliband on Wednesday to discuss the growing threat from Iran.
Mispelled Barack.
Ehud Barak tried to give them everything they ever wanted, and this is how they repay him?
****Barak is set to meet British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday and Foreign Minister David Miliband on Wednesday to discuss the growing threat from Iran.****
They’d better not Polanski him.
Ehud Barack is a former IDF Special Forces operator. If I were the Brits I would not screw with him.
I think he’s being rather trusting in assuming that because the charge is absurd, or because he’s a government minister, that Britain wouldn’t hold him. After all, it’s already absurd that the charge could even be brought. And Britain fell through the rabbit hole a while back, I don’t put anything past their government, especially when it comes to taking a side with either the Arabs or Israel. That’s not even a decision for them.
Someone owes William Wallace an apology
Ohhhh, Uggggg.......... Crushed!
I had a glimmer of hope it was Barack misspelled..... Where is the hope he promised?
There are ex-SAS operatives locked up in British prisons for various crimes including armed robbery and murder I don’t think that would be the issue, but it would violate the principle of diplomatic immunity, which means that this move is just meaningless gesture politics that will not achieve anything.....
In fact the court rejected the application yesterday, precisely because lawyers appearing for the British government argued that the Court had not jurisdiction in the matter. See
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2350965/posts
Well that’s a satisfactory surprise.
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