An Israeli military court postponed on Tuesday, August 4, a court hearing for Palestinian lawmaker Khalida Jarrar. According to Jarrar’s lawyer, Mahmoud Hassan, this was the second consecutive time that the scheduled hearing was postponed after witnesses failed to show up. Attorney Hassan, director of the legal unit of the Palestinian prisoners’ rights group Addameer, accused the military prosecution of “procrastinating,” saying that it had not taken the necessary steps to have the relevant witnesses brought to the court. While the court had issued a detention order for one of the witnesses, it was not executed, said Hassan. The attorney noted that the Israeli authorities had even failed to produce a witness who is currently being held in an Israeli jail.
Palestinian demonstrators demand the release of Khalida Jarrar. (Photo: Al Ittihad)
Following this latest postponement Jarrar’s court hearing has been rescheduled for August 10. Jarrar, an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and member of the Political Bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine has spent the last four months behind bars.
The Palestinian prisoners’ rights group Addameer said the continued delaying of Jarrar’s hearing is illustrative of “how abusive the Israeli military legal system is, as Palestinians are detained with no legal and reasonable justification.” They added that the “political detention aims to keep the detainee for as long as possible in Israeli jails and to suppress all political and social activists in the Palestinian community.” Jarrar’s family, as well as Hadash MK Ayman Odeh, chairman of the Joint List in the Knesset, South African and Swiss diplomats, attended Tuesday’s session.
Jarrar was arrested at her home in Ramallah on April 2. She was initially sentenced to six months administrative detention, but international pressure later forced the Israeli authorities to bring twelve charges against her, focusing on her political activism. A judge ordered her release on bail on May 21, saying there was no evidence she posed a security threat, but a week later another judge reversed the decision, ordering that she remain behind bars until her trial. If convicted, the political leader, rights activist and feminist could spend up to two years in prison.
Concern has been expressed about Jarrar’s medical condition, which requires continuous treatment and supervision. Her detention has resulted in protests throughout Palestine and Israel, with Palestinian and Israeli rights groups, as well Hadash and the Communist Party of Israel, calling for her release. Addameer described her arrest as “vengeful, arbitrary and political, intended to punish her for her political opinions and activism for Palestinian human rights,” while Human Rights Watch said “her case is rife with due process violations.”
Related:
- 500% Increase in Palestinians Detained without Trial in 2015
- Palestinian Factions Condemn Detention of MP Khalida Jarrar
- Joint List Denounces Arrest and Detention of Khalida Jarrar
- Occupation order expelling Palestinian Legislative Council Member Khalida Jarrar to Jericho
- MK Touma-Sliman Meets PLC Member Khalida Jarrar – Demands Her Immediate Release
