Belgian court to decide Wed. on PM trial for Sabra and Chatilla
A special Belgian court is to announce its decision Wednesday on whether to accept a Lebanese Palestinian's complaint against Prime Minster Ariel Sharon for his role in the 1982 massacre at the Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps during the Lebanon war.
Legal sources in Belgium said Wednesday's decision would be the final one in a process that began a year ago when survivors of the massacres went to the Belgian courts with complaints against Sharon. The court is supposed to decide whether it has the authority to hold the trial, and legal sources in both Belgium and Israel were predicting Tuesday that the Belgian court will decide it doesn't have the authority to try Sharon.
The sources based their prediction on two recent developments, an international court decision at the Hague ruling on the case of a former Congolese foreign minister against whom charges were filed in Belgium that he had incited to murder during the genocidal conflict between the Hutus and Tutsies in Rwanda. The Hague ruled that the minister's international immunity by virtue of his position as a minister outweighed the Belgian law.
As a result, lawyers for Sharon in Belgium filed motions with the special court hearing the Palestinian case, and in response the state prosecution, which would handle the plaintiff's complaint, agreed the special court did not have the authority to try a sitting prime minister. But the prosecution's stand was that while Sharon could not be prosecuted, former chief of staff Rafael Eitan, former Northern Command major general Amir Drori, and former division commander Amos Yaron - now director general of the defense ministry - could be prosecuted.
If the special court rejects the plaintiffs' request for a trial, they can appeal to the Belgian Supreme Court. If the court decides it does have the authority to try Sharon, an investigative judge will be appointed to investigate the case and decide on future legal proceedings.
The Justice Ministry's Irit Kahan, who heads the ministry's international department, takes the view that Sharon has diplomatic immunity as prime minister and therefore cannot be prosecuted in the Belgian court. During the war, Sharon was defense minister, when the IDF encircled the camps in south Beirut and allowed Christian Falange troops to enter the camps, assisting them with flares at night. The Falange committed the actual massacre of an estimated 900 Palestinians, including men, women, and children. A judicial commission of inquiry in Israel ruled that Sharon should be removed from his post as defense minister.
According to Belgian law, state courts can judge cases of human rights violations by citizens of another country.
By Yossi Melman, Ha'aretz Correspondent