Israel to allocate $1m to defend officers facing war-crime charges

http://www.imemc.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13944&Itemid=1

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"The Israeli Minister of Justice Tzipi Livni proposed a bill to the cabinet asking for $1 million to be allocated to defend senior army officers charged in Britain with war crimes, Israeli sources reported on Monday.

It is expected that cabinet will approve the draft law in its weekly meeting next Sunday, the source said.

Livni, said the source, has appointed a special legal team with a mission to persuade Britain and other European countries to change their laws which allows their courts to persecute foreign nationals."

<snip>

"The Justice Ministry team is directed to draft recommendations for trying to change legislation in European states whose laws embody the concept of "universal authority" and have provisions for prosecuting foreign nationals for human rights violations. These countries include the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain, among others.

The team will also assess the current legal situation in different European, and will hold a country-by-country evaluation of the "risk factor" for prosecution for war crimes that each nation presents to Israeli soldiers and officers. As part of this assessment, Israel's European embassies will be asked to consult with local legal experts."

1. GIDEON v. WAINWRIGHT

2. Miranda v. Arizona

3. Escobeda v. Illinois

4. Olmstead v. United States

...around my household they're practically the sole topic of conversation.