Former Fatah leader Dahlan sentenced in absentia to two years in jail

A magistrate court in the occupied West Bank revealed that it had sentenced former senior Fatah leader Mohamed Dahlan to two years in prison, after being found guilty of libel, slander and contempt of Palestinian institutions.

The court said in a statement that Dahlan was convicted in absentia on 3 April, 2014, after he was informed about the hearing session. Yet this indictment against Dahlan was only made public this week.

Dahlan’s accusations were based on an interview conducted with him by Al Arabiya satellite channel and remarks published on the internet. All these materials were put on two CDs and used as evidence.

Recently, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Dahlan have exchanged accusations of participating in the killing of Palestinian fighters and harming the Palestinian interests.

Currently, Dahlan is living in the UAE and he serves as the political advisor for the country’s crown prince. It is widely believed that he is involved in instability of both Libya and Egypt, as well as the internal differences inside Fatah.