Israel Extends Detention of Palestinian Islamic Movement Chief

Rasa - Israeli authorities extended the detention of Raed Salah, leader of the Northern branch of the Palestinian Islamic Movement in 48, who was charged in connection with unrest in Jerusalem last month.

News ID: 432246

Date: 07 September 2017 - 23:48

RNA - Salah was kept in custody on Wednesday after his bail was denied, his lawyer said, Al Waght reported.

"The Israeli magistrate court in the northern city of Haifa has decided to extend the detention of Sheikh Raed Salah until the end of his trial," Khaled Zbarqa, Salah's lawyer, told reporters. "This means that Sheikh Salah will be kept in detention for several months." Zbarqa said an appeal against the court's decision would be lodged.

"It is an unprecedented decision," he said. "It proves that Sheikh Raed is a prisoner of conscience, tried because of his religious views."

The 59-year Palestinian cleric, who spearheads campaigns against Zionists' plans to Judaize Jerusalem particularly al-Aqsa Mosque, has been repeatedly detained and imprisoned by Israel.

He was arrested on August 14 at his home in the northern city of Umm al-Fahm.

Salah, who in 1989, 1993 and 1997 has served as the mayor of Umm al-Fahm, was jailed by Israeli authorities for a two-year period, from 2003 to 200. In 2010, he served a five-month sentence after being convicted of leading an anti-Israeli demonstration.

The head of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, was also imprisoned in 2016 for nine months and was released from prison in January 2017.

Tel Aviv outlawed Islamic Movement in 48 Palestine's northern branch in November 2015, accusing the group of having links to terrorist groups and inciting a wave of violence.

“Any person who belongs to this organization or who provides services to it or who acts within its framework is henceforth committing a criminal offense punishable by a prison sentence,” a cabinet statement said at the time. The move also allowed for the confiscation of all property belonging to the group.

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