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Barghouti handed five life terms
A court in Israel has sentenced a leader of the Palestinian uprising, Marwan Barghouti, to life imprisonment for his role in the killing of four Israelis and a Greek monk.
Barghouti, who was the head of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement in the West Bank, received a life sentence for each of the killings.
Barghouti has denied orchestrating attacks on Israelis.
Barghouti, who was the head of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement in the West Bank, received a life sentence for each of the killings.
Barghouti has denied orchestrating attacks on Israelis.
In a tiny courtroom the man some see as a possible future leader of the Palestinians made his last public appearance for some time.
Dressed in dark brown prison overalls, Barghouti dominated the short hearing.
Asking politely to speak, and doing so despite a number of requests from the judges to sit down, he restated his opposition to Israel's occupation and that the continuation of the intifada was the only way to get independence for the Palestinians.
Finally silenced, the judge said Barghouti would serve five consecutive life sentences for murder and a further 40 years for attempted murder and membership of a terrorist organisation.
As he was led away, Barghouti gave a victory sign and said the intifada would triumph.
A Palestinian lawmaker, he refused to recognise the jurisdiction of the Tel Aviv court.
Barghouti said throughout the case he opposed the killing of innocent people in a Palestinian uprising that began in 2000.
Supporters have said he has no intention of appealing against the verdict or asking the court for a reduced sentence.
Outrage
The Palestinian Authority immediately rejected the decision and demanded Barghouti's release.
"We reject this sentence and do not recognise this unfair decision," Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie told Voice of Palestine radio.
"Marwan Barghouti is a member of the Palestinian parliament and a national leader and the Israeli occupation forces have no right to sentence him."
Palestinian Negotiations Minister Saeb Erakat said the court had no jurisdiction over Barghouti and called on Israel to release him immediately.
"This sentencing of Marwan Barghouti is illegal and invalid because the Israeli court has no power to sentence him as an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council," Mr Erakat told AFP.
Qaddura Fares, minister without portfolio in the Palestinian Cabinet, also condemned the sentence as illegal.
"Everything was illegal from the beginning and the occupation is illegal so the decision is illegal," he told AFP, saying that Israel's real intention in trying Barghouti was to send a strong message to the Palestinians about the intifada.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1125749.htm
Dressed in dark brown prison overalls, Barghouti dominated the short hearing.
Asking politely to speak, and doing so despite a number of requests from the judges to sit down, he restated his opposition to Israel's occupation and that the continuation of the intifada was the only way to get independence for the Palestinians.
Finally silenced, the judge said Barghouti would serve five consecutive life sentences for murder and a further 40 years for attempted murder and membership of a terrorist organisation.
As he was led away, Barghouti gave a victory sign and said the intifada would triumph.
A Palestinian lawmaker, he refused to recognise the jurisdiction of the Tel Aviv court.
Barghouti said throughout the case he opposed the killing of innocent people in a Palestinian uprising that began in 2000.
Supporters have said he has no intention of appealing against the verdict or asking the court for a reduced sentence.
Outrage
The Palestinian Authority immediately rejected the decision and demanded Barghouti's release.
"We reject this sentence and do not recognise this unfair decision," Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie told Voice of Palestine radio.
"Marwan Barghouti is a member of the Palestinian parliament and a national leader and the Israeli occupation forces have no right to sentence him."
Palestinian Negotiations Minister Saeb Erakat said the court had no jurisdiction over Barghouti and called on Israel to release him immediately.
"This sentencing of Marwan Barghouti is illegal and invalid because the Israeli court has no power to sentence him as an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council," Mr Erakat told AFP.
Qaddura Fares, minister without portfolio in the Palestinian Cabinet, also condemned the sentence as illegal.
"Everything was illegal from the beginning and the occupation is illegal so the decision is illegal," he told AFP, saying that Israel's real intention in trying Barghouti was to send a strong message to the Palestinians about the intifada.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1125749.htm
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