Palestinian lawyer freed without charge
Israel releases French-palestinian after 13 months without trial; ‘the detention system in Israeli prisons is often hard. The Israelis try everything to imprison our will’
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel on Sunday released a French palestinian lawyer held without charge for the past 13 months over unspeciied allegations, his lawyer said.
Salah Hamouri, 33, was freed at occupied Jerusalem police headquarters after being brought from his cell in a prison in southern Israel’s Negev desert.
Attorney Mahmud Hassan told AFP that Hamouri was forbidden to take part in demonstrations, protests or celebrations of his release for a period of 30 days and required to post a bond of 3,000 shekels ($825, 710 euros).
He was arrested at his home in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem on Aug.23, 2017 and subsequently interned under what Israel calls administrative detention, which allows detention without trial for renewable six-month periods.
Neither suspects nor their lawyers are informed of the reasons for arrests and Israel’s Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency had no immediate comment when asked by AFP for the reasons behind Hamouri’s detention.
“Freedom is an indescribable feeling,” Hamouri told AFP after his release, while saying he felt France had not done enough to push for it.
“The detention system in Israeli prisons is often hard. The Israelis try everything to imprison our will, to isolate us from our society and our family.”
He said he had not been in contact with his wife or son during his detention, and that Israel had refused a visa request for his wife who lives in France.
Israeli authorities have in the past accused Hamouri of belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which Israel, the United States and the European Union list as a terrorist group.
Hamouri has denied it, according to his wife, contacted in France.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Foreign Minister Jean-yves Le Drian discussed his case several times with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the French foreign ministry.
Israel says administrative detention is intended to allow authorities to hold suspects while continuing to gather evidence, with the aim of preventing attacks or security offences in the meantime. But the system has been criticised by Palestinians, human rights groups and members of the international community who say Israel abuses the measure.