I have just put this on the THF website as well @
http://www.tomhurndall.co.uk/trial.asp
PRESS RELEASE 1OTH MAY 2004
THE TRIAL BEGINS TODAY OF THE SOLDIER INDICTED FOR THE KILLING OF BRITISH STUDENT PHOTOJOURNALIST TOM HURNDALL
The Trial begins today in Israel of Sgt Idier Wahid Taysir, who is facing six charges in connection with the killing of Tom Hurndall. Tom Hurndall, the 21 year old British Student Photojournalist was fatally shot in the head as he was shepherding children to safety in Rafah, Gaza last spring. After spending 9 months in a coma, he died on 13th January this year (For more information visit www.tomhurndall.co.uk ).
Sgt Idier Wahid Taysir will be tried on six indictments : Manslaughter; Two counts of Obstruction of Justice; Incitement to False Testimony; False Testimony; Improper Conduct. He has entered a plea of not guilty to all charges at an earlier non-public hearing.
The trial is taking place at a Military Court within the Military base at Castina Junction in Ashkalon, near Tel Aviv and those called for examination today will include the Operational Commander of the indicted soldier and two members of the Military Police responsible for carrying out the Military Police Investigation.
The Mother of Tom Hurndall – Jocelyn Hurndall has flown to Israel in order to attend the proceedings which begin at 9am this morning. She will be accompanied by her Israeli lawyers – Avigdor Feldman and Michael Sfard; a translator and a representative of the British Consul.
Just before she left her hotel on the way to the trial this morning – Jocelyn Hurndall said:
“I accept that to have got this far is a significant achievement, indeed an historic one. There have been no trials of this magnitude relating to killings in the Occupied Territories in the three years since the Intifada - which has seen over 3,000 innocent non-combatants killed and over 40,000 seriously injured in the region. I am committed to getting to the truth about the circumstances surrounding the killing of my son.
However, it is not sufficient to have come this far, merely to attend the staging of a show trial!
We have heard representations from the indicted soldier and other colleagues in his unit, indicating that he has been ‘hung out to dry’ and that ‘he was just following orders’.
With the distinct absence of any kind of process for accountability for unlawful actions in the region and with the staggering number of deaths of non combatants – including three British Nationals within the six month period when Tom was shot, there are questions that need to be answered as to whether there are policy issues which led to Tom’s death. Indeed it is likely that there are others who share responsibility with the soldier currently in the dock.
It is for this reason that in the Supreme Court we are challenging the IDF in respect of its decision not to release crucial evidence contained in the Military Police Inquiry Report to Tom’s family; its lawyers or the British Coroner who is responsible for the inquest into Tom’s death. There is a moral and legal obligation that whatever evidence has been collected and which has led to the indictment of a soldier for manslaughter should be made available to be independently tested. This would be in line with the spirit of the consistent promises of ‘Openness and Transparency’ made by representatives of the Israeli Army and representatives of the Israeli Government including Ariel Sharon himself.
We cannot understand for example how a soldier who has himself confessed to shooting Tom, knowing he was unarmed, using a high velocity rifle with an advanced telescopic lens at a short distance of 150 metres can have intended to achieve anything other than Tom’s death. According to our own ballistic experts, such a shot which entered Tom’s forehead was a precision shot and had no other objective than to kill. That says to us that the indictment should be Murder and not manslaughter.
The initial field inquiry completely exonerated the soldier and we believe that if it was not for the dogged determination of the family and its supporters: first conducting our own investigation and then lobbying through the media and parliament against a catalogue of lies and misinformation, we would never have got this far. The campaign for justice for Tom has uncovered and exposed the serious flaws in the existing investigation process - which relied totally on the testimonies of those who were the perpetrators of the unlawful act and who were later proved to have falsified their testimonies. We are lobbying for these rules of investigation to be changed.
There is an unfortunate disconnect from the rules laid down in the Geneva Convention within the Territories and this is costing innocent lives every day. We have all watched in horror and with revulsion over the last week in Iraq, how easy it is for standards within the military to completely plummet and for inhuman acts to become the norm. There have to be rules. There has to be accountability. These unlawful acts must be stopped!”
For further information please contact Spokesperson :
Carl Arrindell on 07799 768768 or email:
carl@tomhurndall.co.uk
http://www.tomhurndall.co.uk/trial.asp PRESS RELEASE 1OTH MAY 2004
THE TRIAL BEGINS TODAY OF THE SOLDIER INDICTED FOR THE KILLING OF BRITISH STUDENT PHOTOJOURNALIST TOM HURNDALL
The Trial begins today in Israel of Sgt Idier Wahid Taysir, who is facing six charges in connection with the killing of Tom Hurndall. Tom Hurndall, the 21 year old British Student Photojournalist was fatally shot in the head as he was shepherding children to safety in Rafah, Gaza last spring. After spending 9 months in a coma, he died on 13th January this year (For more information visit www.tomhurndall.co.uk ).
Sgt Idier Wahid Taysir will be tried on six indictments : Manslaughter; Two counts of Obstruction of Justice; Incitement to False Testimony; False Testimony; Improper Conduct. He has entered a plea of not guilty to all charges at an earlier non-public hearing.
The trial is taking place at a Military Court within the Military base at Castina Junction in Ashkalon, near Tel Aviv and those called for examination today will include the Operational Commander of the indicted soldier and two members of the Military Police responsible for carrying out the Military Police Investigation.
The Mother of Tom Hurndall – Jocelyn Hurndall has flown to Israel in order to attend the proceedings which begin at 9am this morning. She will be accompanied by her Israeli lawyers – Avigdor Feldman and Michael Sfard; a translator and a representative of the British Consul.
Just before she left her hotel on the way to the trial this morning – Jocelyn Hurndall said:
“I accept that to have got this far is a significant achievement, indeed an historic one. There have been no trials of this magnitude relating to killings in the Occupied Territories in the three years since the Intifada - which has seen over 3,000 innocent non-combatants killed and over 40,000 seriously injured in the region. I am committed to getting to the truth about the circumstances surrounding the killing of my son.
However, it is not sufficient to have come this far, merely to attend the staging of a show trial!
We have heard representations from the indicted soldier and other colleagues in his unit, indicating that he has been ‘hung out to dry’ and that ‘he was just following orders’.
With the distinct absence of any kind of process for accountability for unlawful actions in the region and with the staggering number of deaths of non combatants – including three British Nationals within the six month period when Tom was shot, there are questions that need to be answered as to whether there are policy issues which led to Tom’s death. Indeed it is likely that there are others who share responsibility with the soldier currently in the dock.
It is for this reason that in the Supreme Court we are challenging the IDF in respect of its decision not to release crucial evidence contained in the Military Police Inquiry Report to Tom’s family; its lawyers or the British Coroner who is responsible for the inquest into Tom’s death. There is a moral and legal obligation that whatever evidence has been collected and which has led to the indictment of a soldier for manslaughter should be made available to be independently tested. This would be in line with the spirit of the consistent promises of ‘Openness and Transparency’ made by representatives of the Israeli Army and representatives of the Israeli Government including Ariel Sharon himself.
We cannot understand for example how a soldier who has himself confessed to shooting Tom, knowing he was unarmed, using a high velocity rifle with an advanced telescopic lens at a short distance of 150 metres can have intended to achieve anything other than Tom’s death. According to our own ballistic experts, such a shot which entered Tom’s forehead was a precision shot and had no other objective than to kill. That says to us that the indictment should be Murder and not manslaughter.
The initial field inquiry completely exonerated the soldier and we believe that if it was not for the dogged determination of the family and its supporters: first conducting our own investigation and then lobbying through the media and parliament against a catalogue of lies and misinformation, we would never have got this far. The campaign for justice for Tom has uncovered and exposed the serious flaws in the existing investigation process - which relied totally on the testimonies of those who were the perpetrators of the unlawful act and who were later proved to have falsified their testimonies. We are lobbying for these rules of investigation to be changed.
There is an unfortunate disconnect from the rules laid down in the Geneva Convention within the Territories and this is costing innocent lives every day. We have all watched in horror and with revulsion over the last week in Iraq, how easy it is for standards within the military to completely plummet and for inhuman acts to become the norm. There have to be rules. There has to be accountability. These unlawful acts must be stopped!”
For further information please contact Spokesperson :
Carl Arrindell on 07799 768768 or email:
carl@tomhurndall.co.uk 
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Coverage in Independent
11.05.2004 08:27
Israeli confessed 'under duress' to killing peace activist
By Terri Judd
11 May 2004
An Israeli soldier went on trial yesterday for killing the British peace activist Tom Hurndall, who was fatally wounded 13 months ago while trying to protect Palestinian children.
In a conflict that has seen thousands of deaths but only a handful of soldiers arrested, the trial of Sgt Idier Wahid Taysir for manslaughter was described as an historic one, a result of a campaign for justice by Mr Hurndall's family.
Mr Hurndall, 21, a photojournalism student, was working with the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement in Rafah, Gaza, when he was shot in the head by the Israeli soldier as he tried to get trapped Palestinian children out of the line of fire. He died nine months later, after being brought home in a persistent vegetative state.
His parents, Anthony and Jocelyn Hurndall, fought for a new investigation, refusing to accept an initial inquiry which exonerated the army. Eventually in January on the anniversary of their son's death they learnt that a soldier had been charged with intent to cause injury, which was later upgraded to manslaughter.
Yesterday at a military court in a desert base in southern Israel,Ilan Bombach, a defence lawyer, requested that the judges ignore a confession by Sgt Taysir, insisting it was "given under pressure". Sgt Taysir is facing one count of manslaughter, two counts of obstruction of justice, one of submitting false testimony, one of obtaining false testimony and one of unbecoming behaviour. But Mr Hurndall's family, which insists there is "overwhelming evidence" that Tom was deliberately killed, said they would not be satisfied until the charge is murder. Their lawyers made representations to the Supreme Court yesterday for the Israeli army to release details of its military investigation.
The family, which was only given a three-page summary, believe the full evidence will support its case for a murder charge and perhaps reveal a widespread culture within the Israeli Defence Force.
Lawyers for Sgt Taysir, who admitted shooting at Mr Hurndall "as a deterrent" even though the student was unarmed, insisted that their client was being "hung out to dry" and was "following orders". The trial was adjourned until 19 May.
Mrs Hurndall said outside court: "I accept that to have got this far is a significant achievement, indeed an historic one. There have been no trials of this magnitude relating to killings in the occupied territories in the three years since the intifada, which has seen over 3,000 innocent non-combatants killed and over 40,000 seriously injured in the region. I am committed to getting to the truth about the killing of my son. There are questions that need to be answered as to whether there are policy issues which led to Tom's death. Indeed it is likely that there are others who share responsibility."
• The UN said yesterday that Israel had left 1,100 Palestinians homeless in the Gaza Strip this month, by destroying 131 homes. It called the first 10 days of May "one of the most intense periods of destruction by the Israeli military". More than 18,000 Palestinians have been made homeless since the intifada began in September 2000.
Mark @ ISM London
Homepage:
http://www.rafahkid.net