Tel Aviv, Oct 03: A lawyer for Marwan Barghuti, a top Lieutenant of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on trial for terrorism, said today the defence team was quitting the trial, accusing security men of beating him and throwing him out of court as the hearing was about to begin.
"We are withdrawing from this trial. We will not let the Israelis use this court any more for their campaign against the Palestinian people," said lawyer Khader Shkeirat outside the court building.
"They did not let me see Marwan and they threw me out of court and beat me up," he added, looking shocked.
As tension soared in the court building, packed with security and relatives of the victims of Palestinian attacks, Shkeirat had a heated shouting match with Danny Seamann, the head of the Israeli government press office.
If found guilty, the 43-year-old Fatah firebrand faces life in prison, but Shkeirat explained that his defence team, who had so far boycotted the trial, will argue that the Israeli court has no jurisdiction to try their client.

Bureau Report