Convicted murderer Barghouti: Man of peace? [Image Source]

Twelve years ago, the career of an ambitious Palestinian Arab gang leader, a member of Arafat’s inner circle, ended when he was convicted in Tel Aviv District Court in relation to the deaths of five innocent people.

There were other charges as well: attempted murder, membership of a terror organization and conspiracy to commit a crime; he was convicted of those as well. He was acquitted on technical grounds in relation to 33 additional counts of murder. Our impression (we were present in the court room for part of the trial ) was that the prosecution could have pressed those extra charges. Evidently a decision was taken that the accused would be imprisoned for a long-enough term if convicted on those charges where technical factors did not play a role. And indeed, that’s what happened.

At the conclusion of Marwan Barghouti’s trial in May 2004, the prosecution sought a sentence of one life term for each murdered victim and he was sentenced to – and is currently serving – five life terms behind bars:

Murdered on Marwan Barghouti’s orders in 2001: Father George Tsibouktsakis

The court said in its verdict that “the defendant most of the time did not have direct contact with the field operatives who carried out the attacks. That connection was maintained through associates close to the defendant. Barghouti was responsible for providing the field units with money and arms via these associates…” The judges said Barghouti’s orders for terror attacks were sometimes “based on instructions” from Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. “Arafat would never give explicit instructions for attacks but he let it be known when the timing was right,” the judges said. “He made sure his subordinates understood very well when he was interested in a cease-fire and when he was interested in terror attacks against Israel,” the verdict said.

[“Barghouti Convicted in Deaths of Five People“, Haaretz, May 20, 2004]