Charges brought against Palestinian legislator
IDF military court hears accusations that Khalida Jarrar incited kidnapping of Israeli soldiers
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An Israeli military court is prosecuting Khalida Jarrar, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and a leader in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, on 12 charges, including membership in an illegal organization, participation in illegal or violent protests and incitement to kidnap Israeli soldiers.
Jarrar was arrested on April 2 and given a six-month term of administrative detention — a form of imprisonment in which no charges are filed so as not to expose classified security information — for disobeying an Israeli travel ban issued in August restricting her to the Jericho area, the Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported on Sunday.
MK Ahmad Tibi and other members of the Joint List called on April 8 for Jarrar’s release, Haaretz reported. “This is a political detention of an elected official who is opposed to the occupation,” MK Aida Touma-Suliman said at Ofer Prison, where a hearing on Jarrar’s case had been postponed that day. “The State of Israel should be ashamed of the draconian regime of administrative detentions, which is unparalleled in any democracy.”
“We were surprised by the prosecution, which explicitly said last week there were no grounds to detain her until the end of proceedings,” said Sahar Francis, Jarrar’s defense attorney. “The indictment strengthens our argument that the imprisonment is vindictive.”
Jarrar, a member of the committee that monitors relations with the International Criminal Court in The Hague, was arrested soon after the Palestinian Authority joined the court.
Jarrar’s trial began in a military criminal court in Ofer Prison on April 15.
The Times of Israel Community.