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PA warned by brother of murdered activist not to hide evidence

February 9, 2022 at 8:21 am

Palestinians rally in Ramallah city in the occupied West Bank on August 2, 2021, denouncing the Palestinian Authority (PA) following the violent arrest and death in custody of activist Nizar Banat [ABBAS MOMANI/AFP via Getty Images]

The brother of murdered activist Nizar Banat warned the Palestinian Authority on Tuesday not to hide evidence of its involvement in the killing, Quds Press has reported.

Ghassan Banat reiterated that his brother was killed by officers from the PA’s Protective Security agency. The evidence, he pointed out, is clear in the medical report kept in the files of Al-Ahly Hospital in Hebron. Banat said that officers from Protective Security had photocopied the medical report, the third time that it had been copied.

The murdered man’s brother explained that the repeated copying of the medical report without their knowledge raised concerns that the PA might be working to hide its involvement in the assassination of Nizar. He revealed that one of the copies had been sent to Jordan. Although he did not name the recipient, he claimed that this was part of the effort to find a legal flaw which could get the PA off the hook.

At the same time, he added, the defence lawyer assigned by the PA is trying to help the PA agencies to hide their involvement in the assassination.

The Banat family refuses to attend the court hearings in this case because members refuse to sit under the same roof with Nizar’s “killers”. According to Ghassan Banat, his family is documenting all the violations carried out by the PA judiciary and the court in order to submit a complete file about the case to an international tribunal.

Political activist Nizar Banat died after he was beaten by PA security officers at his uncle’s house in Hebron on 24 June last year.

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