Captain H. 'unconcerned' about charges in UK
Family of British photographer James Miller who was killed in Rafah in 2003 demanding officer be extradited and tried in Britain; UK foreign minister promises to press Israel on matter. British prosecutor reveals: Complaints filed in Spain too
The IDF officer who was twice acquitted of involvement in the death of the British photographer James Miller in Rafah in May 2003 said he was unconcerned with recent calls by the man’s family that he stand trial again.
“I have no connection to any criminal event, and I have no interest in the processes occurring in England. Justice prevailed after two years, and I am happy about that and only looking ahead,” Captain H. has said lately during conversations with friends.
Captain H.’s friends said that the calls to turn him over to British custody have had no affect on him. “He’s busy right now with his (IDF) company, and that’s all that’s occupying him,” they said.
But the Miller family refuses to back down. The victim’s family has already sued Israel for the killing, and a few days ago they met with Britain’s new Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett and asked her to press Israel to indict those responsible for Miller’s death. His widow, Sophie Miller, said that Beckett promised to renew pressures on Israel in the matter.
A month ago a British jury ruled that Miller was murdered when shots were fired towards him with the intention of killing him, based on evidence they gathered from the incident. The ruling led London to demand that the investigation into the incident be reopened and the IDF officer at the scene be retried.
The IDF has not officially responded in the affair, but is perceivably concerned: British pressures are not comfortable for the army. Captain H. has been told not to talk to the media, but in conversations with his friends he apparently is not overly worried.
“The matter is behind me. I don’t think about it and I’m not worried. For two years there were court proceedings against me, it was a long and difficult process. In the end justice prevailed and I’m happy about that. The rest doesn’t interest me,” he says. Since his acquittal, he has been promoted in the army from deputy company commander to company commander. Recently, he earned an extremely high sociometric scoring from officers serving with him in his division.
Captain H. was never indicted in the affair, since the Judge Advocate General Brig.-Gen. Avi Mandelblit said there was not sufficient evidence in the case, but he stood a disciplinary hearing before a senior officer with the rank of brigadier-general. Upon his acquittal, the military prosecution appealed, but he was acquitted in a second hearing as well.
Recently another attorney has entered the picture – British-Israeli lawyer Daniel Machover - who is behind the complaints filed against OC Southern Command Doron Almog and Commander of the IDF in Gaza Brig.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi, who is refraining from entering the UK due to warnings that he will be arrested there for war crimes.
“Israel needs to ask itself if it is doing all it can to try officers responsible for war crimes,” Machover said to Ynet. “There are a lot of incidents in which (Israel) did not do a sufficient self-examination. In the Miller case as well as in the case of Aviv Kochavi. Justice was not done to the victims, and that is why we are filing these complaints now.” Attorney Machover refused to reveal the names of the officers that have been charged in London, but noted that steps were being taken in the matter, including attempts to recruit other countries to the effort. “A few complaints were filed in Spain as well,” he revealed.
