Sheikh Salah ordered kept in prison until Thursday

The Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court has ordered firebrand Muslim cleric Raed Salah kept in custody for two more days.

Salah, from the Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm, was arrested Tuesday morning on suspicion of incitement to violence and terror, as well as supporting and being active in a banned organization — the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, which he heads.

Sheikh Raed Salah, center, smiles as he arrives at the Israeli Rishon Lezion Magistrate's Court on August 15, 2017. (AFP/JACK GUEZ)
Sheikh Raed Salah, center, smiles as he arrives at the Israeli Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court on August 15, 2017. (AFP/JACK GUEZ)

“On a number of occasions, all of them after the movement was made illegal [in 2015], the inciter made statements before an audience and saw his statements quoted in the media. These statement are linked to the movement’s worldview. An examination of the [statements] raise the suspicion that some of the things said [by Salah] meet the criteria for the stated crimes,” police said in a statement.

According to Haaretz, the judge okayed the police request to keep Salah in custody, but said his words were quotes from the Quran and could not be considered inciting speech.

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