The Absurd Case against Muhammad El Halabi: an Interview with The Defense
Palestinian prisoner and humanitarian Mohammed El-Halabi, former head of World Vision in Gaza, was wrongly imprisoned on false charges of redirecting millions of dollars of aid money for Gaza to Hamas. Halabi has been kept in prison for the past five years, despite there not being any physical evidence for the charges against him. For this reason, we have launched the #Justice4Halabi campaign. You can sign and share our petition here.
In response to our interview questions, Mr. Maher Hanna, the attorney representing Halabi, was able to share with us following information as it concerns the absurdities of the so-called “case” being made against Halabi. The critical points are as follow:
The Prosecution admitted in open court that the materials confiscated from World Vision are so voluminous that they could not study then or verify any of its claims exactly. It admitted, however, that most of the projects of World Vision had been completed and that its grants go to worthy and innocent recipients. When asked, then, what monies were in fact diverted and which projects were in fact allegedly used to support Hamas, the prosecution had no answer.
As related to point 1: The Prosecution failed not only to provide any evidence but also refused to call any witness who worked for World Vision or any recipients of its projects. Instead, the Prosecution claimed that Halabi had threatened witnesses not to come to court, yet also asked Halabi if he dared to call any witnesses. In response, the Defense called all World Vision employees, but the Prosecution refused them entry to Israel to testify, threatening to arrest them if they came. And, even after the employees said they had nothing to fear and are willing to risk arrest to come and testify, they were still refused permission to enter. Even after it was agreed for the witnesses to share their testimony on video and the video was produced and shared, the Prosecution said in its summation that it could not accept video testimony because the witnesses did not come in person to testify!!! This is the height of absurdity.
The Prosecution claimed that Halabi stole money from World Vision that was designated for farmers, and when the Defense asked to bring all the farmers to testify the Prosecution said there was no need since most projects were in fact properly implemented. When the Defense asked, “Which farmers’ projects were not implemented and had their monies diverted?” the Prosecution had no answer, saying that the evidence is too voluminous for us to know which projects were stolen from!!!
The Prosecution claimed that Halabi had given GPS coordinates to Hamas for determining where tunnels would come out at the Erez checkpoint in 2010. The Defense asked for and received logs of entry and exit from Erez checkpoint showing that Halabi had not use the Eretz checkpoint between 2006 and the end of 2011. When asked how then he was able specify exit points at Eretz, there was no answer!
The Prosecution claimed that Halabi diverted thousands of tons of iron to Hamas, but the Defense proved in court that World Vision had not imported a single kilogram of iron to Gaza, ever!!!
The Prosecution claimed that Halabi imported materials for World Vision through the Keren Salem crossing and diverted the trucks to Hamas warehouses. The Defense, however, proved that World Vision does not have warehouses of its own, and has never (not once!) used the Keren Salem crossing nor have they ever, even once, imported materials from Israel or used any materials that could be used by Hamas, ever!!!
With respect to monetary, as opposed to material embezzlement, the behavior of Halabi, who insisted on transferring additional power to authorize and allocate money from Gaza to the World Vision headquarters in Jerusalem, is the exact opposite behavior one would expect from an employee trying to embezzle and divert funds as based on his own limited authority.
The Prosecution presented no material evidence, while ignoring all of the material evidence presented by the Defense. They simply claimed that one person (who had been previously convicted of giving false testimony) overheard Halabi confess that he assisted Hamas, yet the Prosecution has failed to explain until now how Halabi allegedly assisted Hamas. They only said that “since he worked on so many projects, he must have been able to assist Hamas.” This truly is the extent of their claims.
Finally, Mr. Hanna claims that the utter absurdity of the above points, presented in open court, pales in comparison to the absurdities—or rather insanities—claimed during the secret portions of the trial, the details of which he is prohibited under severe threat from revealing. The only “security” concerns about these sessions lies in the embarrassment caused to the state from the utter and unbelievable absurdity of its so-called evidence, which therefore needs to be kept secret.
As based upon the above, the solution remains clear:
· This charade of a trial must end.
· Israel must free Mohammed Halabi and drop all charges against him.
· And, World Vision must be allowed to resume its humanitarian work in Gaza.
Sign and share the petition here.