Description

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israel on Wednesday released a Palestinian who had been imprisoned over his lifetime for 12 years, the head of the Prisoners' Society said.

Qadura Fares told Ma'an that Ahmad Saqer spent 12 years in jail, and had been held in administrative detention since 2008. He had been on hunger strike for 22 days.

Saqer's father is in ill health and an Israeli court granted a petition to free him, Fares said.

Israel issues administrative detention orders for periods of up to six months, but the orders are often renewed close to the release date and detainees can be held indefinitely and are often re-arrested.

Fares said Saqer did not even face a court for the last four years of his sentence.

Israel recently released two prisoners from administrative detention after the detainees went on hunger strike.

The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Detainee Affairs says 1,600 prisoners joined a mass hunger strike on Tuesday, Palestinian Prisoners Day, protesting conditions in Israeli jails.

Israeli Prison Service spokeswoman Sivan Weizman said on Wednesday that 1,200 detainees on continuous hunger strike have had privileges removed.