‘PA controls the judiciary’

Former Chairman of the Palestinian Judicial Council Sami Sarsour said his ouster by a senior Palestinian Authority (PA) security official is “clear-cut proof” of PA interferences in the judicial system, Quds Press reported yesterday.

Sarsour said he was asked to sign an undated resignation document when he was instated as chairman of the Judicial Council, noting that he was told that he was not “honoured” by this position, but “chosen” to run it.

He accused the member of Executive Committee of Fatah, Tawfiq Al-Tirawi, of exploiting the document, stressing that he had not resigned but was “ousted”.

In addition, he said: “The personal interference of the PA Chief [Mahmoud Abbas] as he had accepted my claimed resignation is illegal.” He noted that the natural way to resign is to apply to the Judicial Council which discusses the matter and raises it to the justice minister, not the PA leader.

“I worked in judicial councils for 15 years hoping to contribute in reforming them,” he said. “We almost succeeded to separate the judicial and executive authorities, but what happened recently returned everything to point zero.”

The reason for his ouster was a “dispute” between him and Al-Tirawi, “who accused me of giving unprecise remarks and interfering in the judicial issues.” Adding that he expects to be replaced with someone who “keep up with their [senior PA officials’] interests”.

“Unfortunately, no one from [Fatah] central committee or the PA had asked Al-Tirawi about his interference in the judicial system or about the reason behind ousting me,” he said. “This is proof that the PA controls the judicial system.”