Today, September 4, 2022— only hours from his expected release from Hadarim prison— the Israeli occupation renewed the administrative detention of Salah for another three months. Once more, neither Salah nor his legal representation were informed about the renewal decision leaving Salah, his family and loved ones in a state of continuous anxiety and psychological distress.
Salah, was arrested on March 7 2022 and received a three-months administrative detention order on March 10. The detention was renewed on June 5 and is now being renewed for a second time in a row. During his detention Salah was repeatedly harassed; the most severe action being his forcible transfer on July 27 to Hadarim high security prison. This action was a reprisal by prison authorities to a letter written by Salah on July 14 to French President Macron, on the occasion of Bastille Day, urging him to take action to bring about his release. On 4 August 4, Salah’s lawyers submitted an appeal to his administrative detention which was rejected the same day by the military court based on evidence drawn from “secret files”.
Salah’s administrative detention, without charge or trial, is based on “secret information” which can be used to indefinitely renew his imprisonment. Approximately 743 Palestinian administrative detainees are currently in Israeli prisons facing the same illegal, systematic and arbitrary practice of administrative detention suffered by Salah. The renewal of Salah’s administrative detention order is representative of the Israeli occupation’ broader and ongoing systematic harassment campaign to suppress Palestinian human rights defenders (HRDs) and civil society.
In light of the above, the Justice for Salah Campaign calls for:
- The immediate release of Salah from administrative detention
- End all threats of deportation against Salah.
- End all ID revocation and deportation policies in Jerusalem
- Cease all harassment of Salah and permit him and his family to live freely in Jerusalem.
Background:
Salah, aged 37, is a Palestinian-French Jerusalemite, a former political prisoner, and a long-time HRD, he has been the subject of Israeli persecution since he was 15 years old when he sustained a bullet injury in 2000. He was first arrested at the age of 16 and has since then been facing continuous judicial and administrative harassment by the Israeli occupation authorities, including six periods of imprisonment and arbitrary arrests, several travel bans, exorbitant bail and fines, house arrests, separation from his family, surveillance and spyware attack, and most recently, the illegal revocation of his permanent Jerusalem residency and forced deportation from Jerusalem.