Two international activists arrested on visit to military court
by alethoInternational Solidarity Movement | January 29, 2014
Occupied Palestine - On Wednesday 29th
January, 2014, two international human rights activists were arrested
at Salem Military Court, in Jenin district. The activists, Norwegian and
Canadian, were at the court to attend a hearing for Ahmad Atatreh, a
20-year-old Palestinian activist who had been arrested ten days earlier at a peaceful demonstration in the Jordan Valley.
Following
the hearing, which the activists had attended in solidarity with Mr
Atatreh and his family, Israeli soldiers violently pushed the defendant,
who was in handcuffs, out of the courtroom. When the internationals
asked why he was receiving this rough treatment, the soldiers took the
passport from the Norwegian and arrested her on the accusation of having
“slapped a soldier.”
The
two remaining activists and the family of Mr Atatreh left the court
facilities and were getting into a car outside when they were approached
by another soldier, who subsequently arrested the Canadian, accusing
him of “attempting to prevent an arrest.”
The
activists were held overnight in the police station in the illegal
settlement of Ariel. Under Israeli law they should be taken before a
civil court judge within 24 hours of their arrest, although in recent
cases the police have disregarded this, preferring to initiate
deportation procedures without following due process.
The Canadian citizen was released on Thursday afternoon. The Norwegian citizen is being processed for deportation.
In
the past month alone, five international human rights activists have
been arrested, leading to concerns of a military crackdown on
international solidarity with the Palestinian people.
With
regard to the case of Ahmad Atatreh, who was arrested on the accusation
of assaulting a soldier, the judge postponed the trial for a further
month, in order to re-examine the evidence. The next time he appears in
court he will have spent six weeks in administrative detention.
The
Israeli military judicial system has been criticized by various human
rights groups for their lack of fair trial guarantees and discrimination
in procedural law. For more information on Israeli military courts see:
http://www.addameer.org/
Salem Military Court
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