BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A former aide to the late President Yasser Arafat convicted of corruption on Thursday dismissed the charge as politically-motivated.

A Palestinian Authority corruption court on Thursday sentenced Mohammad Rashid and two other businessmen in absentia to 15 years in jail and ordered them to return $33.5 million in funds stolen during Arafat's rule.

Speaking from London, Rashid dismissed the conviction. "This is a political court," he told broadcaster Al Jazeera. Defending his decision not to face the charges in person he added: "The legal environment is not safe."

Rashid, an Iraqi Kurd who worked as a financial aide for Arafat for more than a decade, accused President Mahmoud Abbas of leading a witch-hunt against his predecessor's allies.

Rashid had accused Abbas and his family of owning assets worth tens of millions of dollars.

Prosecutors told the court, which was set up by Abbas two years ago, that Rashid profited from front companies and fled abroad after Arafat's death in 2004.

Rafiq Natsheh, head of the Palestinian Authority's anti-corruption commission, denied suggestions that Rashid's trial was politicized.

"This is only one of several files we are currently working on," he told Reuters. "Those guilty (of financial wrongdoing) cannot go on undetected."