Charges Dropped Against IDF Officer in James Miller Case

On 02/05/2003, British cameraman James Miller was shot and killed on the Israeli-Egyptian border, near Rafah.

During the time of the incident, an IDF force patrolled the area, and was engaged in the exposure of a tunnel suspected to have been used by Palestinian terrorists in order to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip.

The Military Police investigation concluded that it was not possible to link the death of cameraman James Miller with the firing by the IDF force.

However, the investigation found that an IDF officer, who was in charge of the force at the scene, fired warning shots which apparently did not comply with the rules of engagement under the circumstances.

Therefore, the Judge Advocacy General instructed that he stand disciplinary trial in front of a Brigadier General from the Southern Command, for the illegal use of a weapon.

Today, 14/04/05, within the framework of the disciplinary trial procedure, the head of staff for the Southern Command, Brig. Gen. Guy Tzur, decided to drop the charge of illegal use of a weapon, based the fact that given the operational and environmental conditions under which the IDF force was working, the firing was justified.

The basis for the decision made by the judging officer will be handed over to the Judge Advocate General, who will then decide whether to appeal the decision.

This acquital did not sit well with the representative of the Islamic Kingdom of Albion in Tel Aviv, and who is more qualified to report on this angle than al-Ha'aretz? In a story posted on 2005_04_14, The Ragsheet begins the report not with the exoneration, but with the Bevinland reaction:

British envoy concerned by acquittal of IDF officer in killing of UK journalist

Britain's ambassador to Israel expressed concern Thursday following the acquittal of an Israel Defense Forces officer who had opened fire during an incident in which a British photojournalist was killed in the Gaza Strip almost two years ago.

The photographer, James Miller, was shot dead during a night-time incident in Rafah in southern Gaza in May 2003 while he was filming a movie on the lives of Palestinian children during the intifada.

The officer who was commanding the unit, a first lieutenant in the Bedouin Desert Reconnaissance Battalion, was acquitted by the IDF Southern Command Chief of Staff Brigadier General Guy Tzur.

Irony of ironies: the original Breaker Morant was executed by the Perfidious Brits themselves.