A prominent Palestinian official in Ramallah said that the Corruption Court’s decision to dismiss charges against Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member and exiled former top Fatah official Mohammed Dahlan has “greatly upset Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.”
The official, who preferred to remain anonymous, added in a statement to Al-Resalah.net today that the ruling was unexpected due to the fact that evidence for Dahlan’s conviction was submitted to the court. The charges against Dahlan included financial and managerial corruption as well as the misuse of public funds.
The ruling is considered another blow to Abbas, after he “had counted on the court to officially prosecute Dahlan in accordance with Palestinian law.”
The source also denied media claims regarding secret communications between Abbas and Dahlan in an effort to restore relations between the two.
According to the official, a new wage of action is due to take place, involving a campaign of arrests and security persecution by the PA against Dahlan’s supporters in the occupied West Bank in addition to salary cuts to his supporters in Gaza.
Yesterday, the Corruption Court in Ramallah dismissed the case against Dahlan giving him parliamentary immunity because he is a member of the PLC, and due to the fact that the lifting of Dahlan’s parliamentary immunity was not carried out in line with the law.
Dahlan welcomed the court’s ruling, saying: “The court’s decision is a ruling which serves justice and enhances the status of the Palestinian judicial system and its legislations regarding the immunity of elected members.”
Chief prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Akram Khatib said: “The prosecution will appeal the Corruption Court’s ruling.”
The dispute between Dahlan and Abbas has intensified, and they had each accused the other of corruption, theft and working with the occupation against the Palestinian people.
This dispute drove the Fatah Central Committee to issue a decision on June 2011 dismissing Dahlan from the committee and referring him to the General Prosecution on charges of financial corruption and murder.