ECCP and Samidoun joint appeal to parliamentarians on the death of Omar Nayef Zayed
by samidoun
The European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECCP) and Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network issued a joint appeal to all Members of European Parliament on the killing of Omar Nayef Zayed,
on 26 February 2016. ECCP and Samidoun will be following up this letter
with an ongoing push for transparency, justice and accountability for
the taking of the life of Zayed, a former Palestinian prisoner sought
for extradition from Bulgaria to the Israeli occupation. The letter was
written and sent hours after Nayef Zayed was pronounced dead in Sofia.
Both organizations had been working together to advocate against the extradition of Nayef Zayed. The text of the appeal follows:
Dear Members of the European Parliament,
We
write today with heavy hearts and extreme distress about an incident
that has just occurred in Sofia, Bulgaria. Omar Nayef Zayed, the former
Palestinian prisoner currently pursued for extradition by Israel and
Bulgarian police, was found dead yesterday morning inside the
Palestinian embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria, where he had taken refuge from
the extradition request.
Omar’s
case was a critical case for Palestinians in Europe; he had lived in
Bulgaria for the past 22 years as a permanent resident, with his
Bulgarian-citizen wife and three Bulgarian-citizen children. He fled
Israeli imprisonment after a 40-day hunger strike in 1990; the threat of
his extradition on the basis of his conviction by an Israeli court
trying Palestinians from the West Bank in an unfair trial, after being
subject to torture, held severe concerns not only for him as an
individual but for all Palestinians in Europe who could face such
threats.
Bulgarian
police are reporting that it appears that Omar fell from a high story
in the embassy building into its garden; they are also reporting that it
is “not excluded” that he was pushed in order to cause the fall. Both
Israeli and Palestinian media are reporting that Omar Nayef Zayed was
the victim of an assassination in Sofia this morning.
Bulgarian
police have closed off the street where the embassy is located and are
carrying out an investigation. Due to the politically sensitive nature
of this case and its high level of international importance, it is
critical that Omar Nayef Zayed receive an independent autopsy and a
full, transparent and independent investigation of his death in order to
hold those responsible accountable.
Israeli
intelligence agencies have in the past carried out assassinations on
European territory, like those of Naim Khader, Mahmoud Hamshari, Wael
Zuaiter and others. Omar’s family and Palestinian officials have
declared Omar’s death an assassination; the fact that Israeli media is
already reporting his death as an assassination lends further support to
this statement. The assassination and killing of a former Palestinian
prisoner in Europe is not acceptable and must not be allowed to pass by
without serious investigation and international accountability.
We
urge you to contact your Bulgarian colleagues and Bulgarian officials
to urge the highest level of investigation into the case of Omar Nayef
Zayed, and to register your interest in this case of major international
import.
Sincerely,
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