Israel Charges Palestinian Professor despite Successful Appeal
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Palestinian professor and astrophysicist Imad Barghouthi is facing charges of “incitement” by Israeli authorities, despite an earlier decision by the Israeli military appeals court to release him from custody due to lack of sufficient evidence.
In a statement released by the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) late on Sunday, the group said Israeli military prosecution submitted the indictment to the military court accusing Barghouthi of incitement against Israel on Facebook, Ma’an News Agency reported.
Earlier on Sunday, the statement added, Israeli intelligence questioned Barghouthi at Ofer prison, where he is being held under Israel’s notorious policy of administrative detention -- commonly used as a means of internment without charges or trial based on undisclosed evidence.
PPS senior lawyer Jawad Boulous described the decision to keep Barghouthi in custody as “extremely absurd,” taking into account that the Israeli military prosecutor announced at Thursday’s court hearing that there was not enough evidence to indict him.
The appeal presented to the Israeli court was signed by hundreds of scientists and academics from all over the world demanding Barghouthi’s release. A similar petition signed by academics was submitted to Israeli courts during the imprisoned professor’s court hearing earlier in May.
The defense appeal overturned the court’s previous sentence to two months in administrative detention, which followed an initial verdict of three months in prison.
The reversal of the Israeli authorities’ decision to release Barghouthi, added Boulous, “again” proves “that all the legal procedures by the (Israeli) occupation forces -- namely the military prosecution -- are trivial and illusionary, and pay no attention to legal rules.”
He reiterated that such a procedure is meant only “to suppress the Palestinians by all means of deception.”
