Israel rejects UK ultimatum to try soldier
IDF refuses to prosecute officer suspected of shooting British filmmaker in Gaza Strip four years ago. Justice Ministry: We will consider request according to our timetable
According to a Sunday Times report, British officials have given Israel a deadline of Tuesday to respond, after which the British authorities will consider prosecuting Captain Hib al-Heib in the UK for the murder of Miller.
IDF officers said Miller's murder was thoroughly investigated by the military police that cleared Al-Heib and other soldiers of wrongdoing.
When the deadline, issued by former British attorney general Lord Goldsmith, expires, the British authorities will demand that Israel extradites Al-Heib to stand trial in the UK.
A Justice Ministry spokesman, Moshe Cohen, said in response that the British requests were thoroughly examined and the decision to close the case was familiar to the legal sources in London.
In a message to the British Justice Ministry, Cohen wrote, "Now that the British authorities have decided to approach us again over Miller's killing, we will discuss the issue once again and the response of the army and the legal system will be handed over to them as soon as possible and subject to the timetables of the elements involved in the issue in Israel."
Miller was shot dead in the Gaza Strip on May 2, 2003 while making a film about children caught in the crossfire of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
His death was captured on video along with seven shots. The soundtrack of that footage was key to the expert evidence commissioned by Scotland Yard that said that all seven shots came from al-Heib’s APC.
It also formed a key part of the documentary Death in Gaza made by Miller’s colleague Saira Shah who was with him when he died, the report said.
