JUDICIAL CLIFFHANGER
The case against Sharon, Yaron and others has not lacked in drama and sudden reversals of fortune, including several previous attempts, all averted at the eleventh hour, to abort the effort completely. Three former Lebanese Forces militia officials (one of whom, Elie Hobeika, was named in the case) have been assassinated by parties unknown since January 2002. In February 2002, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a regressive ruling stating that Belgium erred in putting out an arrest warrant for Yerodia Ndombasi because he was a sitting foreign minister at the time. Most recently, the Belgian Appeals Court decision to halt the Sharon case on June 26 has sparked an unprecedented joint initiative by national and international human rights organizations and members of the Belgian Parliament and government to save and strengthen Belgium's law of universal jurisdiction.
Following the ICJ ruling, few expected the Court of Appeals to render a decision in favor of prosecuting Sharon, who was defense minister at the time of the Sabra and Shatila massacres. But most informed observers assumed, given Belgian Attorney General Pierre Morlet's consistent support of the plaintiffs' arguments during a series of pre-trial hearings, that the Appeals Court would rule that a case could proceed against Yaron and other Israeli officials, as well as surviving Lebanese Forces militia members, none of whom enjoy immunity from prosecution. The Appeals Court's decision to forestall indictment of anyone in the case caught observers by surprise.
The case against Sharon, Yaron and others has not lacked in drama and sudden reversals of fortune, including several previous attempts, all averted at the eleventh hour, to abort the effort completely. Three former Lebanese Forces militia officials (one of whom, Elie Hobeika, was named in the case) have been assassinated by parties unknown since January 2002. In February 2002, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a regressive ruling stating that Belgium erred in putting out an arrest warrant for Yerodia Ndombasi because he was a sitting foreign minister at the time. Most recently, the Belgian Appeals Court decision to halt the Sharon case on June 26 has sparked an unprecedented joint initiative by national and international human rights organizations and members of the Belgian Parliament and government to save and strengthen Belgium's law of universal jurisdiction.
Following the ICJ ruling, few expected the Court of Appeals to render a decision in favor of prosecuting Sharon, who was defense minister at the time of the Sabra and Shatila massacres. But most informed observers assumed, given Belgian Attorney General Pierre Morlet's consistent support of the plaintiffs' arguments during a series of pre-trial hearings, that the Appeals Court would rule that a case could proceed against Yaron and other Israeli officials, as well as surviving Lebanese Forces militia members, none of whom enjoy immunity from prosecution. The Appeals Court's decision to forestall indictment of anyone in the case caught observers by surprise.