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| PCHR Palestinian Centre for Human Rights PRESS RELEASE |
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Ref: 99/2005
Date: 18 August 2005
Time: 11:00 GMT
Sharia’ Court and Judge’s Office Attacked
In another attack on the judiciary, three armed persons broke into the Sharia’ Court in Nablus and fired inside a judge’s room.
According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 17:30 on Sunday, 14 August 2005, three persons armed with pistols brole into the Sharia’ Court in Nablus. They entered the office of Judge ‘Azzam Waheed ‘Aahed al-Kharraz, 59, and insulted him. When Judge al-Kharraz requested them to get out, they fired four live bullets inside the office and stepped on the Judge’s tiara. As a result of the gunfire, a staff member of the court, 28-year-old Ibrahim Mousa Dwaikat, was injured by shrapnel to the right foot and the left thigh. A PCHR field worker saw traces of live bullets on the walls of the office and the Judge’s chair.
This attack came only a few hours after Judge al-Kharraz had been threatened in his office by Colonel Talal Dwaikat, former head of the Palestinian General Intelligence in Nablus. According to information available to PCHR, at approximately 12:00 on Sunday, Colonel Dwaikat and his bodyguard entered Judge al-Kharraz’s office in the court. When his mobile phone rang, Judge al-Kharraz requested him to make his phone call outside the office. In response, Colonel Dwaikat requested Judge al-Kharraz to leave the court and threatened him not to come back to his office.
PCHR strongly condemns this latest attack on the Sharia’ Court in Nablus and one of its judges. PCHR calls upon the Palestinian National Authority to investigate this attack, bring its perpetrators to justice and make efforts to promote the authority and independence of the judiciary.
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