The Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com) reports that a Palestinian terrorist, Marwan Barghouti, has been sentenced 5 life sentences for murdering Israeli women and children:

A Tel Aviv District Court on Sunday sentenced senior Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti to five consecutive life sentences and an additional 40 years in prison.

Barghouti, who was convicted last month of the murder of five civilians and of involvement in four terror attacks, was handed 20 years for attempted murder and another 20 for membership in a terror organization

Barghouti was found guilty for his role in three shooting attacks that killed a Greek Orthodox monk near Ma'aleh Adumim in 2001; an Israeli near Givat Ze'ev in 2002; and three people at a Tel Aviv restaurant in 2002.

Before his arrest, trial and conviction, Barghouti was the leader of "Fatah", Yasser's Arafat's organization of armed thugs and murderers - click here for more details. I copy the rest of the article below.

Fatah leader Barghouti handed 5 life sentences
The Jerusalem Post, By YAAKOV KATZ, Jun. 6, 2004, Link

The Tel Aviv District Court on Sunday sentenced senior Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti to five consecutive life sentences and an additional 40 years in prison.

Barghouti, who was convicted last month of the murder of five civilians and of involvement in four terror attacks, was handed 20 years for attempted murder and another 20 for membership in a terror organization.

Barghouti was found guilty for his role in three shooting attacks that killed a Greek Orthodox monk near Ma'aleh Adumim in 2001; an Israeli near Givat Ze'ev in 2002; and three people at a Tel Aviv restaurant in 2002.

Barghouti, who turned 45 Sunday, arrived at the court wearing his brown prison jump suit, surrounded by police and prison guards. Barghouti raised his manacled hands into the air, waving and flashing V signs. He also tried to talk to reporters, but was pushed into the building by the guards.

He reiterated that he does not recognize the court's authority. "The Israeli courts are a partner to the Israeli occupation," Barghouti said before the reading of the verdict. "The judges are just like pilots who fly planes and drop bombs."

"This is the only occupation in the world," he said. "But the occupation is dead. All that is needed now is to perform a funeral for the occupation. I am not interested in life in prison. My day of freedom will be the day when the occupation is over. I call for the unification of our people and bless our Israeli friends who help us and the European parliament."

Last month, the court also found Barghouti guilty of membership in a terrorist organization, attempted murder, and conspiring to commit a crime. A special panel of judges, headed by Sara Sirota, ruled that even though it is clear that Barghouti was involved in additional terrorist attacks, there was not enough evidence to link him directly to 33 other murders with which he was initially charged.

"In the ruling, we decided that according to Israeli law we could not convict the defendant for the list of attacks in the indictment," the judges wrote in their verdict. "He was however, the head of the terror organization which carried out these attacks. He provided the planners of these attacks with financial assistance and arms. He also continuously encouraged his people to continue carrying out murderous attacks."

"These actions are not enough to convict him as the attacker or as an accomplice for the perpetration of each and every attack but we emphasized that the defendant is morally responsible for the deaths of many people as a result of the attacks carried out by members of terror cells that were controlled by him,' the judges added.

Barghouti, the most senior Palestinian leader arrested by Israel in the past three and a half years of violence, was a high-ranking member of Fatah-Tanzim in the West Bank, as well as the Aksa Martyrs Brigades.

Regarding Barghouti's claim that he is a legitimate Palestinian politician, the judges wrote, "It appears that for the defendant, the path to peace runs through a bloody path of terror. The defendant asked to present himself as a political figure and even declared that he is opposed to the killing of innocent people. These declarations stand in contradiction to the defendant's actions , as proved before us. Also according to the defendant's own confessions in his interrogations and in light of the evidence, the defendant was involved, up to his neck, in terror activity, which he tried to call military activity."

Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said the Palestinian Authority does not recognize the court decision. "Israeli courts have no jurisdiction over an elected Palestinian official like Marwan Barghouti or anybody else, and we demand his immediate release," Erekat said.

Barghouti's wife, Faduah, told ynet that today's trial is going to turn Marwan's supporters into enemies. Reminding reporters that her husband was the most popular man in the Arab world, after Arafat, she said that he considered Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation legitimate, even according to international law.

"When there was an Oslo process," she said, "Marwan supported it as a means to end violence and bring about a Palestinian state. He went from home to home, from village to village and from camp to camp to convince people that the process was good for everyone."

Outside the courtroom, violent clashes broke out between supporters of Barghouti and right-wing demonstrators. Veteran journalist Uri Avnery, a known left-wing activist, held up a banner with the words - "Marwan Barghouti - a partner for negotiations." Security personnel ripped up the banner and evicted Avnery from the courthouse.

Posted by David Melle
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