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Palestinians call for day of mourning over sentencing of Fatah chief
The Palestinian prisoner`s club on Saturday called for "a day of mourning and protest" on Sunday to mark the sentencing of Fatah chief Marwan Barghouti, who was convicted of murder late last month. "The prisoners club calls on all Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority to decree Sunday a day of mourning and protest to mark Barghuti`s sentencing," the group said in a statement sent to AFP. Barghuti, a Palestinian MP and chief of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat`s Fatah movement in the West Bank, is to be sentenced by the Tel Aviv court which on May 20 found that he bore direct responsibility for four attacks in which five people were killed. The prosecution recommended five life terms, and another 40 years for attempted murder. One of Barghuti`s lawyers said in May that they would not be appealing the verdict. "Our stand throughout the whole trial is that we do not recognise the jurisdiction of this court, therefore it does not make any sense to appeal a sentence, whatever it is," Shamai Leibowitz told AFP. The prisoner`s club said Barghuti, who has widely been seen as a potential successor to Arafat, would turn 45 on Sunday. He is considered the inspiration behind the Palestinian intifada, which has claimed more than 4,000 lives since it broke out in September 2000. Barghuti was arrested by the Israeli army in the West Bank city of Ramallah in April 2000 and was charged with 26 counts of murder as well as leading the Al-Aqsa Brigades, which has staged a series of deadly attacks on Israeli targets. Posted by: Fred 2004-06-07 |
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