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Prosecution Petitions to Extend Bil`in`s Abdallah Abu Rahmah`s Detention on the Day of his Scheduled Release


Abu Rahmah was scheduled to be released tomorrow, after having served a one-year prison term. The military prosecution filed a petition demanding to extend Abu Rahmah`s detention past the time he was sentenced to. If the petition is accepted, Abu Rahmah will be kept in jail past his release date, and despite having served his sentence in full.

What: Hearing on the military prosecution`s petition to keep Abdallah Abu Rahmah behind bars after he had finished serving his sentence
Where: Military Court of Appeals, Ofer Prison.
When: 11:00 AM Tomorrow, Thursday , November 17th, 2010.
Media Contact: Jonathan Pollak +972-54-632-7736

Last month, on October 11th, Abdallah Abu Rahmah, the coordinator of the Bil`in Popular Committee, was sentenced to twelve months imprisonment for his prominent role in his village`s successful campaign against the construction of Israel`s Separation Barrier on its lands. Abu Rahmah was convicted of incitement and organizing illegal demonstrations.

His conviction and sentence generated international outrage, and was denounced by human rights organizations and the international community alike, including EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, who expressed her deep concern.

After having served his full term, Abu Rahmah was scheduled to be released from prison tomorrow. The military prosecution, which recently filed an appeal demanding aggravate the sentence, in now petitioning to keep him behind bars until the appeal is heard.

In the similar case of Adeeb Abu Rahmah, the Military Court of Appeals has recently ordered the Bil`in organizer under remand despite the fact that he served his sentence in full and in contradiction with the jurisprudence of the Israeli High Court on the issue. The Court of appeals eventually dramatically harshened the one-year sentence originally imposed on Adeeb Abu Rahmah by the first instance.

Background
Abu Rahmah, the coordinator of the Bil`in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, was arrested last year by soldiers who raided his home at the middle of the night and was subsequently indicted before an Israeli military court on unsubstantiated charges that included stone-throwing and arms possession. Abu Rahmah was cleared of both the stone-throwing and arms possession charges, but convicted of organizing illegal demonstrations and incitement.

An exemplary case of mal-use of the Israeli military legal system in the West Bank for the purpose of silencing legitimate political dissent, Abu Rahmah`s conviction was subject to harsh international criticism. The EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, expressed her deep concern `that the possible imprisonment of Mr Abu Rahma is intended to prevent him and other Palestinians from exercising their legitimate right to protest[...]`, after EU diplomats attended all hearings in Abu Rahmah`s case. Ashton`s statement was followed by one from the Spanish Parliament.

Renowned South African human right activist, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, called on Israel to overturn Abu Rahmah`s conviction on behalf of the Elders, a group of international public figures noted as elder statesmen, peace activists, and human rights advocates, brought together by Nelson Mandela. Members of the Elders, including Tutu, have met with Abu Rahmah on their visit to Bil`in prior to his arrest.

International human rights organization Amnesty International condemned Abu Rahmah`s conviction as an assault on the right to freedom of expression. Human Rights Watch denounced the conviction, pronouncing the whole process `an unfair trial`.

Legal Background
Abu Rahmah, the coordinator of the Bil`in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, was acquitted of two out of the four charges brought against him in the indictment - stone-throwing and a ridiculous and vindictive arms possession charge. According to the indictment, Abu Rahmah collected used tear-gas projectiles and bullet casings shot at demonstrators, with the intention of exhibiting them to show the violence used against demonstrators. This absurd charge is a clear example of how eager the military prosecution is to use legal procedures as a tool to silence and smear unarmed dissent.

The court did, however, find Abu Rahmah guilty of two of the most draconian anti-free speech articles in military legislation: incitement, and organizing and participating in illegal demonstrations. It did so based only on testimonies of minors who were arrested in the middle of the night and denied their right to legal counsel, and despite acknowledging significant ills in their questioning.

The court was also undeterred by the fact that the prosecution failed to provide any concrete evidence implicating Abu Rahmah in any way, despite the fact that all demonstrations in Bil`in are systematically filmed by the army.

Under military law, incitement is defined as `The attempt, verbally or otherwise, to influence public opinion in the Area in a way that may disturb the public peace or public order` (section 7(a) of the Order Concerning Prohibition of Activities of Incitement and Hostile Propaganda (no.101), 1967), and carries a 10 years maximal sentence.


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