Belgian supreme prosecution indicates Sharon for committing war crimes

The Arab Lawyers Union (ALU) secretariat was briefed by the Arab-European league for trying Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Belgium as a criminal of war that the Belgian prosecution charged Sharon with perpetrating war crimes and genocide.

In a statement issued Monday, the ALU described this development as "very important as far as the lawsuit and realization of justice are concerned" especially in view of regional and international developments which witnessed for years double-standard criteria with respect to Arab issues, particularly the Palestinian cause.

The ALU expressed appreciation of the independent and just stand of the Belgian judiciary, now that the investigation judge had rejected the immunity pretext pleaded by Sharon's lawyer.

The judge had also said the claim that Sharon had already stood trial for these crimes before the Kahana commission, stressing that the kahana commission was a mere administrative panel and not a court.

The ALU considered the trial of Sharon as a triumph for international justice and the respect of the rights of victims and people harmed by the massacre committed during the Israeli occupation of Beirut in 1982.