Description

Palestinian hunger striker Samer Issawi is taken to his court hearing in the Magistrate Court in Jerusalem, February 19, 2013. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/ Activestills.org)

Demonstration in support of Samer Issawi in East Jerusalem last month (Oren Ziv / Activestills)


RAMALLAH, April 23, 2013 (WAFA) – Israel agreed Tuesday to a deal in which 8-month long striking prisoner Samer Issawi will be released to his home in Jerusalem after serving another eight months in prison, according to Jawad Boulus, head of the legal department of the Prisoners Club.

He said in a statement that Issawi agreed to end his hunger strike and has started to take food supplements recommended by the doctors as of midnight in the presence of his sister, Shireen, and lawyer.

The deal, said Boulus, which is supposed to be sealed with an Israeli military court decision on Tuesday, says that Issawi will be released eight months from the day of the agreement and his sentence includes the period he has already spent in prison when he was arrested on July 7.

Boulus said the importance of this deal is that Issawi will not be convicted by an Israeli military committee to spend the remaining 20 years left in his sentence in prison.

Issawi, 33, was released in October 2011 in the prisoners’ exchange deal with Israel after serving 10 years of his 30-year-sentence. He was re-arrested on July 7 and charged with violating the terms of his release by entering the West Bank without permission.

If reconvicted by the newly formed military committee, he would be imprisoned to serve the remaining 20 years of his sentence.

Boulus said the deal also includes an Israeli presidential amnesty, which means Issawi cannot be re-arrested and forced to serve the remaining 20 years of his former sentence.

M.S.