September 8, 2022

Last week, the Israeli court finally issued a sentence in the case of Mohammed El-Halabi, former Executive Director for World Vision International in Gaza, who was convicted on a variety of charges that include diverting development money and providing additional services to Hamas. Halabi was arrested on June 15, 2016 and suffered through a lengthy trial for six years, after which he was convicted on all counts listed in the charge sheet. His conviction was on June 15. A prison sentence of 12 years was passed down just last week.

The shocking facts in his case were described by Halabi’s attorney, Maher Hanna in a special briefing conducted by FOSNA on June 22. It can be found here.

Our main concerns, which are pointed out in that briefing, are as follow:

1.       Torture. Mohammed was tortured, suffering both bodily injuries and sleep deprivation (having only slept 6 hours in 5 days), but he still refused to confess. According to the judge, the fact that Halabi did not confess under torture just means that the fact of he was tortured is irrelevant.
2.       Lack of evidence. The only evidence against Halabi was a supposed confession made to a fellow prisoner, a prisoner who previously had been convicted of perjury and whose secret testimony was the sole basis for conviction. World Vision records, confiscated upon Halabi’s arrest, were not even examined by the prosecution, nor was the defense even allowed access to them.
3.       Ridiculous charges. At least three of the charges leveled against Halabi were clearly ridiculous on their face. They were plainly contradicted by evidence produced in court. Namely:
   • It was claimed that Halabi photographed and reconnoitered the Erez Checkpoint for Hamas in 2010, yet it was proven by Israeli records that between 2011 and 2016 he never entered the Erez Checkpoint.
   • In addition, Halabi was charged with diverting more money to Hamas than the entire World Vision budget in Gaza.
   • Halabi was charged with diverting thousands of tons of iron and cement imported through Keren Shalom to Hamas, yet Israeli records clearly show that no cement or iron was ever imported by World Vision at all, and none through Keren Shalom.
4.       Evidence of innocence.  Halabi was able to prove his innocence far beyond a reasonable doubt. Two international audits show conclusively that no money was missing or diverted from World Vision offices or projects. All projects were implemented and their funds accounted for. The judge rejected all the evidence of proper procedures being followed by World Vision, stating that even the most stringent procedures could theoretically be breached, and, since Halabi is intelligent, he was therefore capable of circumventing all safeguards and procedures.
5.       Subverting defense efforts. When the Prosecution claimed that money was diverted, Halabi’s lawyer, Maher Hanna, offered to bring in all World Vision employees to testify. However, they were refused permits to enter Israel, and their video testimony was discounted because it was not given in person. When the Prosecution claimed that farm project money was diverted to Hamas, Maher Hanna offered to bring as witnesses all farmer-beneficiaries. The Prosecution refused, stating that the World Vision’s projects were in fact implemented, that he was unable to name any projects that had not been implemented, and that the evidence was too voluminous to investigate.
6.       Restrictions on the defense attorney. Halabi’s attorney was prevented from even taking notes, writing summaries, or composing arguments except when on a computer kept by the Secret Service. He was not allowed to have the evidence examined by experts, call witnesses from Gaza, or even to visit Gaza himself to interview witnesses and collect evidence.
7.       Unprecedented procedures. New regulations were specifically used regarding hearsay, evidence rules, and other procedures in order to ensure conviction. Such procedures were unprecedented, but may well become standard in future cases.
8.       Secrecy. While the Israeli court justified such secrecy as being needed for security, Maher Hanna boldly stated that the only reason he could see for “security” was the need to protect the prosecution from embarrassment at the flimsiness and silliness of the supposed secret materials.

In issuing his sentence, the judge merely compounded the injustice by stating that regardless of the evidence presented or the merits of the case, consistency with the seriousness of the charges requires that a very severe punishment be given: hence the 12 years.

Maher Hanna plans to appeal. In his opinion, however, the issue on appeal will not be the guilt or innocence of Halabi but rather the very character of the Israeli judicial system. This was not a military court, nor was it a court in Gaza or the Occupied Territories. Whatever procedures, irregularities, or outrages allowed in this case will become, if sustained on appeal, the norm for Israeli courts. Most Palestinians accused of security related charges in Israeli courts take a plea bargain. Halabi refused a plea bargain and, by doing so, exposed the injustices of the Israeli system and how that system is used to intimidate, control, and silence humanitarian organizations like World Vision. There remains hope that with sufficient publicity and international involvement the Israeli High court will be too embarrassed to validate such an outright, blatant injustice.

As such, there is every reason to redouble our efforts and rejuvenate our campaign in pursuit of #Justice4Halabi. In addition to spreading the word, please join our campaign by using the link below to contact your representatives, asking them to apply the pressure needed to overturn such an unjust sentence. Mohammed El-Halabi, who once received the Humanitarian of the Year Award, must be allowed to return to his family, his humanitarian work, and his mission.

23rd extension and 168 court dates. Justice delayed is justice denied.

Yesterday, I attended a hearing at the Israeli High Court of Justice as an attorney for Mohammad Halabi, since Halabi is being represented by my law office in Jerusalem. The hearing was also attended by more than fifteen diplomats from the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and several other countries, as well as supporters from multiple NGOs, including Save the Children.

As a reminder, Palestinian prisoner and humanitarian Mohammed Halabi, former head of World Vision Gaza, was wrongly imprisoned on blatantly false charges of redirecting millions of dollars of aid money for the people of Gaza to Hamas. Halabi has been kept in prison for nearly six years, despite there not being any physical evidence for the charges against him.

Just Peace Advocates has been advocating that the Canadian government demand that Israel free Halabi from Israeli imprisonment and put an end to this case once and for all.

In Canada, over 1,000 letters have been sent to the Canadian government. Also, thousands of people joined in two social media storms during 2021 with Just Peace Advocates and other partners resulting in millions of impressions.

FOSNA says thanks to those who have signed their petition–so far 2,220 signatures demanding his release on the petition below. We also implemented a phone and letter campaign to the Israeli authorities.

• Petition: Justice for Mohammed Halabi (#Justice4Halabi)

Under Israeli law, a criminal trial wherein a defendant is incarcerated should be completed within nine months of his or her arrest. Beyond that, the prosecution needs to petition the High Court for a three month extension. Typically, the High Court does not get into the details of a case but only the reasons for the delay. A delay is usually granted once or twice. In addition, the High Court is free to refuse an extension and order the defendant to be released on bail, held under house arrest, given an electronic ankle bracelet for monitoring, etc., while the trial continues.

In the case of Halabi, the State has repeatedly requested and received extensions and has refused to consider his release on bail. Today’s hearing was the twenty-third (yes, the twenty-third!!) such a request for extension. The result is that Halabi has been in jail, without bail or conviction, for almost 6 years now.

Maher Hanna, the attorney from Kuttab, Khoury and Hanna Law Firm in East Jerusalem office overseeing the case, was scathing in his presentation. He said that although the Supreme Court would not normally look into the specifics of the underlying trial, limiting itself only to the charge sheet, the court cannot ignore the facts of this specific case and needs to consider its substance. In fact, the charges listed in the charge sheet have long been superseded, for the State no longer maintains them. The State no longer maintains the bulk of the charges against Halabi. All testimony has been concluded, and there is no reason for any more delays. Hanna challenged the Court to at least read the summations of the case, but the judge refused.

Nonetheless, Hanna managed to slip into his presentation a few substantive points:

• The chief interrogator has stated under oath that he never investigated the evidence against Halabi, because it was too voluminous. He had access to all the files and computers of World Vision Gaza, but could not point to any evidence.
• The claim that Halabi mapped out the location of the Eretz crossings in 2010, on behalf of Hamas, is disproven by the Israeli records presented to the court showing that Halabi had not even been to the Eretz checkpoint between 2006 and the end of 2011.
• The state repeatedly offered Halabi the opportunity to plead guilty in exchange for a three-year (later four-year) term, but Halabi steadfastly refused and has insisted on his innocence.
• World Vision no longer operates in Gaza, so there is no danger of Halabi diverting any of its money to anybody if he is released. Anyway, even the state of Israel is now openly allowing Qatari funds to go to Hamas.
• The hearings, including all evidence as well as summations, ended months ago. Yet, still there is no verdict and no indication as to when the judge will issue his verdict (though he had hinted that it would take him months to prepare his verdict.)

In the end, the High Court judge stated he would speak to the District Court judge and ask when he expected to give his verdict, before deciding on this extension. Maher Hanna thinks this is a positive development and is cautiously optimistic that we may at least come to see an end to interminable delays.

Halabi, who attended the hearing by Zoom, had a rare opportunity as the judge left the room to greet all the diplomats and supporters, sharing a brief word with them before the court police cut off the connection. Halabi thanked the diplomats, telling them he is doing all this so that the important humanitarian work of several organizations, like World Vision and others, could continue in Gaza.

To read an interview by FOSNA with Attorney Maher Hanna on the absurdities of the case against Halabi, follow the link below:

• The Absurd Case against Muhammad El Halabi: An Interview with the Defense

See also:

• #Justice4Halabi (Campaign Announcement)
• A Plea from Khalil El Halabi, father of Muhammad
• Statements and Updates by World Vision
• United Nations Press Release