A Palestinian clown accused by Israel of membership in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror group and held without charge for 20 months is released.
Mohammad Abu Sakha, 26, tells AFP on Thursday he was released the day before from administrative detention, the controversial measure under which Israel detains suspects without trial for periods of several months, renewable indefinitely.
Protesters in London call to free Palestinian clown Mohammad Abu Sakha in January 2016 (YouTube screenshot)
Abu Sakha had been part of the Palestinian Circus School in Bir Zeit in the occupied West Bank since 2008, first as a student and later as a clown and teacher.
He says Israeli forces never told him the exact reason for his arrest in December 2015 or how long he would be detained.
Israel’s Shin Bet security agency accused him of being a member of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the Jewish state considers a terrorist group.
— withAFP
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