Palestinian presidency pledges to abide by court verdicts regarding Dahlan and Fayyad

The Palestinian presidency has stated that it is willing to abide by the two rulings issued by the High Court and Appeals Court regarding un-freezing the funds of non-profit organisation Future for Palestine, headed by Salam Fayyad, and re-instating parliamentary immunity for Fatah MP Mohamed Dahlan.

“We respect the decisions of the Palestinian judiciary in accordance with the principle of the independence of the judicial power,” the president’s legal adviser Hassan Al-Ouri said in a statement published by the official news agency Wafa.

“The executive power will abide by the rulings issued by the High Court and the Appeals Court,” he added.

The Palestinian High Court of Justice decided on Wednesday to lift the freeze that had been imposed on Future for Palestine’s funds by virtue of a decision that was issued on 21 June by the general prosecution in Ramallah.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) defended the decision to impose the freeze on the grounds that the organisation was a cover for money laundering, but others in Palestinian circles believe the decision came in the context of the PA’s attempts to keep Fayyad away from the political scene in the West Bank.

Later on Wednesday, the Appeals Court rejected an appeal request by the general prosecution ratifying the Corruption Court’s decision to invalidate Mohamed Dahlan’s trial on the grounds that he still enjoys parliamentary immunity as a member of parliament.

The Defence Attorney said that the court found that Dahlan continues to enjoy parliamentary immunity and he should not be tried at the corruption court as long as the Palestinian Legislative Council has not lifted his immunity.

As per this court ruling, the general prosecutor can only appeal to the Court of Cessation within 40 days to be able to lift Dahlan’s immunity.

The Corruption Court decided on 19 April to dismiss the corruption case filed against Dahlan.