Especially since the indictment is the regulating framework for the facts
attributed to the appellant. By referring to the indictment, the Court will find
that it has been devoid of any incident indicating the appellant's Slander
against the Palestinian Authority, contrary to the text of Article 45 of DecreeLaw No.10 of 2018, according to the court’s reason for its decision of
conviction. Rather, the court will find that the facts cited by the Public
Prosecution in the context of accusing the appellant of what is attributed to
him constitute nothing but a violation of the provisions of the law and the
Palestinian Basic Law, which is a legal transgression by the Public
Prosecution, with the aim of giving legitimacy to the behaviour of the
executive authority in suppressing press freedoms and liberties. If what is
attributed to the appellant in the indictment constitutes a crime, the Public
Prosecution would have to pursue Roya TV channel responsible for
broadcasting these satirical TV shows. However, the Public Prosecution was
designed to be in this file, especially the indictment, to be a safety valve to
suppress freedoms and give legitimacy to abuses committed by the executive
authority and practiced against citizens, journalists and human rights
defenders, who defend their opinions and express themselves under the threat
of arbitrary arrest without an arrest warrant, as happened with the journalist
Abd al-Rahman Daher (the appellant). And an indictment in which the Public
Prosecution disregards its powers deprived of it in the context of the executive
authority's encroachment on the powers of the legislative and judicial
authorities attributed to the appellant.
(3) In turn, the Preventive Security Service interrogated the appellant after his
arrest and confiscated his private devices without an arrest warrant, search, or
permission to access the appellant’s devices later. Therefore, the Public
Prosecution provided legal cover to the Preventive Security Service for its
transgression of the law. The Magistrates Court also deals with this matter
with its authority and control within the framework of the final investigation it
is conducting and until the issuance of a final judgment.
(4) The Nablus Magistrate Court erred in its decision on the subject of this appeal
in the part related to the third charge, which is the slander against the
Palestinian Authority, contrary to the provisions of Article 45 of Decree Law
No. 10 of 2018 on cybercrime, in the sense of Article 191 Penalties No.16 of
1960, and he was convicted and sentenced accordingly to three months
imprisonment without verifying any element of the crime attributed to the
appellant. As the Court notes that the elements of the act attributed to the
appellant are not verified in any of its elements.
The law requires that all the following material elements of the act be attributed to
the appellant:
“The offender committed an activity that consists of stating internal thoughts
regarding the National Assembly and disseminating such statements to the public.
The acts attributed to the victim must be specific act and cannot be merely a desire
to act. Moreover, it must be based on a specific legal article … etc.”