Hamas court sentences policeman to death

December 02, 2010

A Hamas military court on Wednesday sentenced a Hamas policeman to death for killing a Palestinian man in a Gaza City market last month.

The verdict, which would be carried out by a firing squad, can be appealed to the higher court, a statement by the Hamas interior ministry said.

The murderer was not in his official duty when he shot dead a person and wounded the second in the market, the statement said.

Over the past months, Hamas has carried out the execution of three people convicted of murder crimes and two accused of collaborating with Israel.

By carrying out the executions, Hamas bypass a key article in the Palestinian law that the president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) must ratify the death sentences. The sentences also provoked human rights groups in Gaza and officials in the PNA.

Jamil Sarhan, director of the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) in Gaza, said that the Hamas courts in Gaza "lack the standards of fair trial."

Hamas is locked in a power struggle with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, since it routed his forces and took over Gaza in 2007.

Source: People's Daily.
Link: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/7218567.html.