Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News, 2015-11-23
The Turkish Seventh High Criminal Court in Istanbul in Turkey has issued warrants of arrest against four Israeli commanders from the Israeli Navy and Israeli Defence Force (IDF).
This follows a four year long case involving South African journalist Gadija Davids who was on board the Mavi Marmara, a humanitarian aid flotilla which was attempting to break the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip on the 31st of May 2010.
According to Davids, the IDF surrounded the boat which was in international waters at the time and killed 10 civilians on board while detaining and injuring hundreds of others, including dozens of journalists.
Davids says she was held against her will in an Israeli prison, assaulted, interrogated and denied consular access and legal representation – she laid her first complaint against the commanders with the South African Police Services and National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in January 2011.
She says the decision by the Turkish authorities to issues the warrants will hold the Israeli commanders responsible to answer for crimes that were committed in the high seas.
“This important decision will reverberate across Turkey and amongst many other jurisdictions like the UK, Spain, Greece, and Sweden where citizens of such countries were also victims of this vicious and cowardly attack by the Israeli Defence Force.”
Davids attorney Ziyaad Patel says the warrant of arrests sets an important precedent for the utilisation of South Africa’s ratification of the Rome Statute.
“It has massive implications as it is one of the first in our country’s history where South African Authorities have undertaken enforcement proceedings arising from codified principles of universal jurisdiction in order for this case to proceed in co-operation with the case unfolding in Turkey as a result of the Rome Statute.”
The Hawks have confirmed they’ve received a letter from Turkish authorities asking that they arrest Gabriel Ashkenazi, Eliezer Marom, Avishay Levi, and Amos Yadlin from the Israeli Navy and IDF If they enter South Africa.
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