PA RETRIES GUNMEN CONVICTED OF KILLING OFF-DUTY

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 000141 SIPDIS SIPDIS NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE, NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/PASCUAL E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/28/2018 TAGS: KWBG PINS IS PTER PGOV SUBJECT: PA RETRIES GUNMEN CONVICTED OF KILLING OFF-DUTY IDF SOLDIERS, SENTENCES THEM TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT REF: A. JERUSALEM 121 ¶B. 07 JERUSALEM 2628 Classified By: Acting Principal Officer Thomas M. Duffy, for reasons 1. 4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) PA Interior Ministry (MoI) and National Security Forces (NSF) confirmed that a Palestinian military court retried Ali Abd al-Hamid Dandis and Amar Badr Halim Taha in the December 28 shooting deaths of two off-duty IDF soldiers, and sentenced both to life imprisonment on January 25. PM Salam Fayyad told the Consul General January 27 that he had ordered the MoI to re-try Dandis and Taha, because the 15-year sentences handed down in the first trial were not sufficient punishment for the killings. (Note: the first military court had convicted the two of "intentional killing," a charge similar to voluntary manslaughter; the second court found sufficient evidence of premeditation and convicted the two of murder. End note). ¶2. (SBU) NSF contacts say the order for retrial came from the MoI after the military prosecutor appealed the first court's verdict. They report that in the second trial the military prosecutor successfully sought a conviction for murder, which carries a life sentence rather than the maximum 15-year prison term for "intentional killing" under the PLO's 1979 penal code. The West Bank NSF commander (BG Thiab Ali, "Abu al-Fatah") said he expects the convicts to be transferred to Jericho with IDF coordination. DUFFY