Israel releases Palestinian lawmaker after year in prison

Rasa - Israeli authorities have released Palestinian parliament member Riyad Mahmoud Raddad from detention after a year of imprisonment.

News ID: 2951

Date: 15 July 2015 - 05:11

RNA - Amina Tawil, a spokesperson for the Palestine Prisoners Center for Studies, said the 55-year-old Palestinian legislator was freed from Ktzi’ot Prison in the Negev desert, located 72 kilometers (45 miles) southwest of the southern Israeli city of Beersheba, on Monday.

Israeli forces detained Raddad in a wave of abductions linked to the alleged disappearance of three teenage Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank in June 2014.

Most of the Palestinians detained during Israel’s arrest campaign were members of Hamas resistance movement, including the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), Abdul Aziz Duwaik.

Tawil said Israeli officials sentenced Raddad to 12 months in jail after he was charged with “organizing marches in support of the prisoners.”

On July 9, Israel released Hamas-affiliated Palestinian parliament member Nayef Rajoub after a year in so-called administrative detention, which allows the Israeli regime to imprison Palestinians without charge or trial for months or years.

The Israeli military had arrested Rajoub in June 2014 as part of a round-up of hundreds of Hamas members in the West Bank.

On June 25, Senior Hamas leader and Palestinian lawmaker Hassan Yousef were freed after a year in Israeli custody. His release came shortly after Aziz Duwaik, the elected speaker of the PLC, was also freed from Israeli jail after spending a year behind bars.

According to the Ahrar Center, a Palestinian prisoners’ rights organization, 10 members of Palestine’s parliament are being held in Israeli jails.

Over 7,000 Palestinians are reportedly incarcerated in 17 Israeli prisons and detention camps.

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