Al Jazeera to refer killing of its journalist to International Criminal Court

CAIRO: Qatar's Al Jazeera TV Network will refer the killing of its journalist Shireen Abu Akleh to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), it said in a televised statement on Thursday.

Abu Akleh, a prominent Palestinian-American Al Jazeera reporter, was shot dead during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank on May 11. 

Al Jazeera's legal team, alongside international legal experts, will prepare a file on the killing of Abu Akleh to refer it to the ICC.

Below is Al Jazeera Media Network’s statement on referring the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh to the ICC:

The Network said in a statement issued on Thursday that it has formed an international legal coalition that consists of its legal team along with international legal experts. The coalition is preparing a complete case dossier to be submitted to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

In addition to the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh by the Israeli Occupation Forces outside Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank on May 11, 2022, the case file will also include the Israeli bombing and total destruction of Al Jazeera’s office in Gaza in May 2021, as well as the continuous incitements and attacks on its journalists operating in the occupied Palestinian territories.

According to Article 8 of the Charter of the International Criminal Court, targeting war correspondents, or journalists working in war zones or occupied territories by killing or physically assaulting them, is a war crime.

Al Jazeera Media Network condemns the killing of our colleague Shireen Abu Akleh, who worked with the Network for 25 years as a professional journalist covering the ongoing conflict in the occupied Palestinian territories. The Network vows to follow every path to achieve justice for Shireen, and ensure those responsible for her killing are brought to justice and held accountable in all international justice and legal platforms and courts.