-Caveat Lector- Ha`aretz. Wednesday, October 31, 2001 Cheshvan 14, 5762 Israel Time: 05:56 (GMT+2)
Dogged Belgian pursuit of Sharon stuns Israeli officials By Nitzan Horowitz It was a case to be wrapped up without a hitch. Michele Hirsch, the attorney Israel hired to contest Belgium's case against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, submitted a series of substantive arguments to the investigating judge who is taking care of the case. The defense - the case against Sharon lacks merit, and a Belgian court doesn't have the jurisdiction to hear it. The judge took the bait, ruled that he wasn't authorized to take the f ile, and passed the buck up to a higher court. In parallel, the Belgian prosecutors diverted their findings and claims to the higher court. Then came the snag. Hirsch and the officials from the justice and foreign ministries, who are in Belgium, were convinced Belgian prosecutors would agree with the Israeli recommendation that the file be shut once and for all. This turned out to be wishful thinking. "Up to a month ago we were very optimistic," says a senior Israeli official. "And then, suddenly and in a very ugly fashion, [the Belgians] turned 180 degrees in the other direction." Sharon's Belgian saga began last June. A 1993 Belgian law empowers local courts to judge persons suspected of war crimes, with no regard to their citizenship or where the alleged crimes were committed. In a test of the law, four defendants stood trial in Brussels for genocide in Rwanda. It was a trial watched keenly by observers around the world, and in its wake Kurds brought charges against Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime to courts in Brussels, and Palestinians followed suit with charges against Sharon and three other Israelis (Rafael Eitan, Amir Drori, Amos Yaron) concerning the 1982 massacre of an estimated 800 Palestinians at Sabra and Chatila refugee camps in Lebanon. The case against Sharon in the Belgian courts contains nothing new about Sabra and Chatila. It quotes from the 1983 Kahan Commission report and other published sources, including Sharon's own autobiography. The Sharon file was given to investigating judge Patrick Collignon, who had to decide if it had sufficient grounds for indictment. "I've waited for this day for years," said Suad Srour, a survivor of the massacre from Beirut, who traveled to Brussels to personally lodge the accusations against Sharon. While local officials in Brussels doubted the Sharon case would make any headway, Israeli officials were fearful of being caught napping. Taking no chances, Israel retained Hirsch, a Jewish-Belgian attorney who had represented the victims in the Rwanda trial. Within two weeks she submitted the defense to Collignon in Israel's name (not Sharon's), relaying a series of arguments denying the Belgian court's authority to preside over the case. Hirsch appealed to Sharon's presumed immunity as a serving prime minister, to Belgium's lack of connection to Sabra and Chatila, to the fact that Israel had already "judged" Sharon in the Kahan Commission, and to the implausible retroactive nature of the claim (the massacre in Lebanon was 11 years before Belgium enacted the 1993 war crimes law). Israeli officials breathed deep sighs of relief when Collignon and the prosecutors agreed to relay the relevant evidence and arguments to a higher court. They viewed this passing of the buck as a sign that the higher court would confirm the basic defense point - Belgium lacks authority to put Sharon on trial for events in Lebanon two decades ago. The decision by Collignon and the prosecutors to refer the case to another court surprised the Palestinian plaintiffs, and the Belgian media reported it as a triumph for Israel. The apparent waffling over the Sharon case was taken as a sign that Belgium's legal system was having second thoughts about the sweep of the 1993 law. Indeed, as the Sharon case was being kicked upstairs, Belgium's attorney general publicly commented that the war crimes law "should be restricted" so as to give immunity to world leaders, and prosecutors should be required to show that a particular case had a "direct connection" with Belgium. Then came the blow to Israel's optimism, Belgian prosecutors announced in early October that they rejected Israel's arguments's about Belgium's authority to try the war crime case against Sharon, and it would resume. The announcement shocked Israel's embassy in Belgium. "We had the feeling the Belgian prosecutors had accepted our contentions. We were sure that our gamble on Hirsch was correct, and that her line of defense was on target ... And then, suddenly, two or three weeks ago it became evident they had changed their minds, and [the state prosecutors] would recommend that the higher court has authority" to hear the case, said a senior Israeli official. What really happened to Sharon's Belgian file? Did Israel really have solid grounds to be optimistic, or were officials again guilty of wishful thinking? Israeli officials point their fingers at the Belgians, hinting that a double-cross had tainted the handling of the case. "They did everything they could through a number of channels to make us believe" the case would be closed, says one high-ranking Israeli official. Angered by the turn of events in the Sharon case, Israeli officials have changed their philosophy. From now on they will play the game on the assumption that "Belgian state prosecutors are against us." <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. 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