Posted on 08/07/2002 12:57:19 PM PDT by knighthawk
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has expressed concern to Belgium's ambassador that two proposed Belgian laws could be used to again prosecute Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other Israelis for alleged war crimes, Israeli officials said Tuesday.
Relations between the two countries have been difficult since Belgian prosecutors accused Sharon of responsibility for a 1982 massacre of Palestinians by Lebanese Christians near Beirut.
That case — filed under a 1993 law granting Belgian courts ``universal jurisdiction'' over war crimes committed anywhere in the world — was dismissed in June by a Belgian appeals court because the Israeli leader does not live in Belgium. That ruling now is being appealed.
One of the proposed laws would allow suspected war criminals to be tried in absentia, Israeli officials and lawyers said Tuesday. The law, if passed, would be retroactive and could possibly reopen the case against Sharon, they said.
The second proposed law would grant Belgian courts jurisdiction over cases that cannot be brought before the newly formed International Criminal Court, Israeli officials said. The U.N.-sponsored court only can prosecute people for crimes committed after its formation July 1, 2002.
Belgian officials could not be reached for comment.
Daniel Saada, an adviser in the Israeli Embassy in Brussels, said the Belgian ambassador to Tel Aviv was summoned to the Israeli Foreign Ministry two weeks ago.
``We expressed our concern about these proposals,'' he told The Associated Press.
Israeli and Belgian leaders have not exchanged visits and there is virtually no dialogue between the countries because of the Sharon case, Saada said. Recent acts of anti-Semitism have further strained relations, he added.
``It's too early to say that we will cut off diplomatic ties but we will not remain passive and we will do everything in our power to make the seriousness of the situation known to the Belgian government,'' Saada said.
Michele Hirsch, a Belgian lawyer who helped represent Sharon in the original case, told Israeli television that Israeli soldiers and army officers also could be tried if the second law is passed.
The Belgians must be idiots, but I was wondering if they planned to try to kidnap people for trial, from anywhere in the world, or simply arrest them if they ever come to Belgium? They do not have the world's strongest military force, so they may be putting themselves at risk, if they try anything really, really stupid.
Sounds like everyone in Belgium is as high as a kite 24/7.
Oh, they can go after Albert and do something fairly effective about their collective guilt too. Nothing to do with his hands, though ;).
Oh, I'd say he must have been quite successful for them to miss him so much.
The silliness would stop real fast.
The Utah legislature passed a law that sets the maximum height of the Great Salt Lake. The Lake violated that law in 1983. That law was just as enforceable.
There are endless possibilities here. Perhaps Los Angeles could pass a law requiring Nevada to assess 10 a cent gas tax on all gasoline sales and to send the money to Sacramento each week. Or the Canadians could pass a law making the ownership of guns illegal in Arizona. Or Montana could pass a law making it illegal for any member of the Kennedy family to hold public ofice. Or.......
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