The International Criminal Court (ICC) has reportedly referred the file of the complaint in Israel’s killing of Palestinian-American veteran journalist of Al Jazeera Shireen Abu Akleh to its information collection for further review.
In a Saturday statement, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) said that it has received a response from the Information and Evidence Unit in the Office of the ICC Attorney General to the complaint submitted in September by the Syndicate’s lawyer, the International Federation of Journalists, the Abu Akleh family, and the International Center of Justice for Palestinians
The ICC’s response confirmed that it would add the provided information to their information collection.
The ICC Attorney General’s Information and Evidence Unit pointed out that “this response does not mean that the Office of the Prosecutor has made a decision on the substance of your letter.”
The PJS commended the step, but it said it was not sufficient, and that what is now required is a “speedy investigation by the Office of the Attorney General of the ICC in order to hold the killers accountable and achieve justice” for the veteran journalist.
Despite wearing a protective helmet and blue bulletproof vest clearly marked as “PRESS,” the 51-year-old veteran journalist was shot and killed by Israeli forces in the head while she was covering an Israeli military raid into the Jenin refugee camp on May 11, sparking international outrage and calls for accountability for attacks on journalists.
Earlier this month, Al Jazeera Media Network submitted a formal request to the ICC to investigate and prosecute Israel’s killing of Abu Akleh.
According to Al Jazeera’s lawyer, Rodney Dixon KC, the request was filed in the context of what the network perceives as a wider attack on Al Jazeera and journalists in Palestine, referring to incidents such as the bombing of the channel’s Gaza office on 15 May 2021.
The ICC decided in 2021 that it has jurisdiction over the occupied West Bank.
