Hamas rules a terrorist organisation by ECJ

Palestine

Published: 2017-07-26 14:55

Last Updated: 2024-03-28 06:35


Hamas rally in Bethlehem. (Wikimedia Commons)
Hamas rally in Bethlehem. (Wikimedia Commons)

The European Court of Justice has ruled Palestinian political organisation Hamas a terrorist organisation.

Judges in the European Union's most senior court on Wednesday overruled the General Court's view of 2014 that the 28-nation bloc had insufficient evidence to maintain asset freezes and travel bans on Hamas, and referred the case back to a lower court.

This at the end of a long-running court battle to challenge the group’s terror designation after the General Court in December 2014 said the EU's decision to place it on the "terror" sanctions list was the result of second-hand information rather than an independent investigation.

The finding was appealed by the European court, which believed the General Court "was wrong in its assessment of the way in which the Council relied on information in the public domain".

ECJ Advocate General Eleanor Sharpston in September joined those demanding Hamas be dropped from the "terror" list.

The EU could not "rely on facts and evidence found in press articles and information from the internet, rather than in decisions of competent authorities, to support a decision to maintain a listing", she said.

A spokesperson for the ECJ said judges ruled that groups may be listed if “there is an ongoing risk of that person or entity being involved in the terrorist activities” and that the Council of the European Union was not legally obliged to undertake its own investigation.

Hamas has been the de facto government of Gaza, while the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority has controlled the West Bank.

Following the September 11, 2001, al Qaeda attacks in New York and Washington, the EU imposed travel bans and asset freezes on Hamas.

The sanctions were opposed by Hamas, who was democratically beat out the ruling Fatah party by a landslide victory during the 2006 legislative elections in the occupied Palestinian territories.

After fighting broke out between the two factions in June 2007, Hamas eventually removed Fatah from the besieged Gaza Strip.