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guardian.co.uk
Israeli military court keeps West Bank protester in jail after end of sentence The leader of village protests against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank is being kept in prison despite having completed his sentence. Abdallah Abu Rahmah, 39, was due to be released last week after serving a 12-month sentence. However a military court has ordered him to be detained until an appeal by prosecutors to extend his sentence is heard. No date has been set for the appeal. Gaby Lasky, Abu Rahmah's lawyer, said: "The decision to keep [him] detained even after his sentence has ended is a mockery of the very concept of justice, but comes as no surprise. The military prosecution and courts are a well oiled machine of politically motivated unfair legal process." The Israeli prison service confirmed that Abu Rahmah was being held in Ofer Prison "in accordance with a custody order issued by a military court". His conviction for incitement and organising illegal demonstrations was criticised by Lady Ashton, the EU's foreign affairs chief, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu on behalf of the Elders, a group of eminent global leaders. Abu Rahmah led weekly protests in Bil'in, a West Bank village, for five years against the construction of Israel's vast separation barrier, the route of which divides villagers from their land. Local Palestinians have been supported by international and Israeli activists in largely peaceful demonstrations. However, the protests have often included stone-throwing by youths, which the military counters with teargas and rubber bullets. In April 2009 a protester was killed when he was hit by a teargas canister. At the end of an eight-month military trial, Abu Rahmah was cleared of throwing stones and possession of arms, but sentenced to a year in jail for incitement and organising illegal demonstrations. In a statement described by Israeli officials as "highly improper", Ashton expressed deep concern following his conviction in August. "The EU considers Abdallah Abu Rahmah to be a human rights defender committed to non-violent protest against the route of the Israeli separation barrier," the statement said. "The EU considers the route of the barrier where it is built on Palestinian land to be illegal." Palestinians, it added, had a "legitimate right to protest against the existence of the separation barriers in a non-violent manner". Tutu called for Abu Rahmah's conviction to be overturned. "When I met with him with my fellow elders last year, we were very impressed by his commitment to non-violence and the wise leadership he showed," he said in a statement in August. "Israel's attempt to crack down on this effective resistance movement by criminalising peaceful protest is unacceptable and unjust."
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