French judges complete investigation into Arafat’s death

The French judges who are re-examining the evidence surrounding the 2004 death of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat have concluded their investigations, the prosecutor’s office in the Paris suburb of Nanterre said yesterday.

“The judges have closed their dossier and it was sent to the prosecutor on April 30.” The prosecutor now has three months to issue his decision on whether to dismiss the case or put it forward to the court.

Earlier this year, experts commissioned by the French court ruled out the possibility that Arafat was poisoned with polonium.

Arafat died aged 75 on 11 November, 2004, at the Percy de Clamart hospital close to Paris.

Three Nanterre judges were commissioned in August 2012 to investigate his death following a complaint filed by his window Suha Arafat after finding polonium residue in Arafat’s personal items.

Arafat’s tomb was opened in Ramallah allowing three teams of French, Swiss and Russian investigators to collect around 60 samples.

The case was opened after finding high amounts of radioactive polonium 201 in Arafat’s body.

The French and Russian team in 2013 ruled out the possibility of Arafat being poisoned, however the Swiss team believed the late leader was likely to have been poisoned.

Nanterre Prosecution told AFP in December that they rejected a request by Suha Arafat to carry out new tests, but the judges decided to “request additional tests from the experts”.

Many Palestinians accuse Israel of poisoning Arafat in cooperation with those close to him.