On February 26, Colonel Ahmad 'Atiya Abu Mustafa was...

On February 26, Colonel Ahmad 'Atiya Abu Mustafa was executed by the Palestinian Authority after he received a summary and unfair trial before a Palestinian court late at night on 25 February. The day before it had become public knowledge that he was accused of raping a 6-year-old boy on February 19, and in Khan Younes, the town in the Gaza strip where the victim came from, people demonstrated in the streets, calling for the Colonel's execution. He was condemned to 15 years' imprisonment for rape and sentenced to death by firing squad "for causing public disorder." The trial was not publicly announced beforehand and reportedly lasted for only one hour. He was executed at about 2 a.m., after President Yasser Arafat had ratified the death sentence.