Activist freed after arrest for Facebook post condemning Abbas government

The Palestinian Authority has released a prominent activist, a week after he was arrested for writing a Facebook post criticising the government of President Mahmoud Abbas.

Issa Amro’s lawyer said yesterday that his client was released on bail of $1,400 (£1,060) after being held under a recent edict that allows the government to crack down on social media critics.

In a Facebook post earlier this month, Amro hit out at the detention of a local journalist who called for Abbas’ resignation.

Amro’s attorney, Farid Atrash, said it was “shameful” that his client was arrested for exercising his right of free expression.

Amro, a 35-year-old activist who advocates non-violence and protests against Israeli settlements in his home town of Hebron, also faces charges in an Israeli military court. His trial is to resume in October.

Amro began a hunger strike in jail last week to protest at what he said was an unlawful detention, made without a warrant or due process.

Following his release, Amro said he was verbally and physically abused during his investigation by Palestinian security.

“They want to silence me and silence every voice defending human rights, but they are wrong. I will continue defending human rights and struggling against occupation,” he said, denying any wrongdoing.

Rights groups had called on the Palestinian Authority to release Amro.

Amnesty International called Amro’s arrest “a shameless attack on freedom of expression.”

Human rights organisations have noted an increase recently in the number of journalists arrested by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, particularly after the implementation of a vaguely worded decree earlier this year that allows the government to jail those who harm “national unity” or the “social fabric” online.

Critics say the edict, issued without prior public debate in July, is perhaps the most significant step yet by Abbas’ government to restrict freedom of expression in the autonomous Palestinian enclaves of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.