“Aman” renews its demand for tightening official oversight and accountability for the crime of laundering settlement dates

Ramallah - Ma'an - The Ramallah Magistrate Court postponed on Sunday morning the hearing of the lawsuit filed against the Coalition for Integrity and Accountability - AMAN by the Presidential Office to a sixth session, set for January 14, 2025, based on a request from the Public Prosecution to allow it to review and study the written defense evidence submitted by the coalition to the court. The trial of the Aman Coalition comes against the backdrop of what was revealed in its fifteenth report issued in May 2023, entitled: The Reality of Integrity and Combating Corruption in Palestine for the Year 2022 under the slogan: (Occupation, Division and Political Corruption: A Closed Circle, Each Feeds the Other), in which the circumstances of the crime of laundering settlement dates and the relationship of public officials to the case were revealed, as well as attempts to address it outside the normal course of the investigation. Several charges were brought against the Aman Coalition, the most prominent of which w as the charge of slander and defamation, in violation of Article 191 of the Jordanian Penal Code No. 16 of 1960. In light of the start of this year's date harvest season, the Aman Coalition reiterates its call for the need to strengthen official and community oversight efforts and take preventive measures to prevent some companies from circumventing Law No. (4) of 2010 regarding the ban and combating of settlement products, including dates, with the cooperation of public employees in some cases, as some companies repackage settlement dates, name them with Palestinian or Arab names, and sell them in the Palestinian market or export them as national products, exploiting the certificates of origin granted to companies supplying dates. The Aman Coalition also stressed its repeated demands, which require that any case in this regard be addressed within the normal channels, whether in the investigation or litigation phase, and that everyone (officials, major traders or those involved) be subject to the rule of law . The Aman Coalition also encourages citizens to report to the Anti-Corruption Commission any observations of practices related to this crime, noting that it, in turn, provides legal and advisory advice to whistleblowers, witnesses and victims of corruption. Source: Maan News Agency