SAPS vows to arrest Israeli army brass
THE SAPS confirmed again to Independent Media yesterday that it planned to enforce Turkish arrest warrants against Israel’s top four military commanders if they set foot in South Africa.
The warrants are for their role in the attack on the Mavi Marmara aid flotilla to Gaza in 2010, which resulted in the deaths of nine humanitarian activists.
The SA Zionist Federation disputed The Mercury’s story last week that the SAPS had issued a letter stating that details of the suspects had been circulated on South Africa’s border control system on September 3, their names submitted to Interpol Pretoria, and that if they were detected they would be extradited to Turkey.
Yesterday, SAPS Brigadier Hangwani Malaudzi confirmed in writing that the letter which the SAPS had issued on this matter “is being processed to the relevant section for compliance”.
The contents of the letter, which was written to attorney Ziyaad Patel, acting for the South African journalist Gadija Davids – who was on the Mavi Marmara during the Israeli attack – will be read out by Patel at a press conference at the Women’s Prison at Constitution Hill in Johannesburg tomorrow morning. Davids will be present.
The Mercury is not at liberty to publish the letter given that it is protected under attorney-client privilege.
The Media Review Network issued a statement yesterday stating: “Our position has been vindicated by the latest confirmation by the SAPS Brigadier Malaudzi of the decision to have senior Israeli commanders arrested.
“We, along with Gadija Davids, her attorney, Ziyaad Patel, and the Palestine Solidarity Association, have been subject to a hate campaign by sections of the Jewish lobby. We are aware that this move by South African authorities has grave implications for Israel and its ability to continue serious violations of human rights.
“We applaud the SAPS and its various divisions involved in the investigations.”
On Friday the SA Zionist Federation condemned the “blatant misrepresentation and misinformation” in Thursday’s article.
“In the headlines of the Cape Times and thereafter published through additional papers within the ‘Independent Media Group’, a report by the paper’s foreign editor, Shannon Ebrahim, claimed that the South African police have pledged to enforce arrest warrants issued by Turkey against four members of the Israeli armed forces should they enter the country,” Zionist Federation chairman Ben Swartz said.
Threatened
The federation called for the release of the letter and said it would “utilise all means at our disposal to get to the bottom of this incident”.
The Media Review Network commented that the federation, “an agent of apartheid Israel, has threatened to act against the Independent News Group if it fails to publish privileged correspondence related to warrants of arrest for four Israeli military commanders”.
“Unlike Israel, media freedom in South Africa cannot, under any circumstances, be held hostage or subverted,” The Media Review Network said.
The Palestine Solidarity Alliance also expressed its shock at what it regarded as the federation’s attempts to force Independent Media to publish what it termed “confidential communication” between attorneys and the SAPS.
Meanwhile, Turkey has welcomed South Africa’s decision to enforce the arrest warrants.