Former Gaza chief for world vision, Mohammad al-Halabi was sentenced to six years in prison.
With the ongoing tussle on the Gaza strip, Israel is adamant about taking aggressive steps.
An Israeli court on Tuesday sentenced Mohammad al-Halabi, former head of operations world vision in Gaza, to six years of prison in addition to six years he has already spent in jail.
The allegations are that he has been sending money to the Palestinian armed movement Hamas. This totals 12 years in jail according to the recent sentence.
He and his lawyer continue to defy the allegations and charges that he has been sending millions of dollars to Hamas, which governs the Gaza strip.
“He says that he’s innocent, he did nothing and there is no evidence,” Maher Hanna, Mohammad al-Halabi’s lawyer said claiming his client’s innocence after Tuesday’s verdict.
“On the contrary, he proved in the court above any reasonable doubt that he made sure that no money will be [given] directly to Hamas.”
“But he insisted that truth also has value. And for his values and the international humanitarian work values, he insisted on the truth, and he cannot admit a thing that he did not do,” the lawyer said.
The first arrest of Mohammad-al-Halabi dates back to June 2016, at the Beit Hanoun border, when he was returning to Gaza after work-related meetings. The allegations on which he was arrested included transferring humanitarian funds up to $50m to support Hamas.
Furthermore, Mohammad al-Halabi has spent six years in prison and was subjected to 160 hearings before his conviction.
Is there a loophole?
Many lawyers and human rights groups have brought to light the fact that his trial was disturbed by due process violations, which included prolonged detention without charge. They also accused the Israeli government of keeping the evidence related to the case “secret”.
Amidst this case comes the statement from world vision, the organization said it “condemns any acts of terrorism or support for such activities … we do not see evidence of these things in this case.”
The Australian government also supported this statement 2017, which is a crucial donor to world vision, that no money was used for transferring funds to Hamas.
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