Palestinian court postpones hearing for thirteenth time

The Palestinian Primary Court in Ramallah has postponed a hearing against 16 members of Hamas for the thirteenth time. The reason given was the repeated absence of representatives from the Preventive Security Service, which is the claimant in the case against the Hamas men.

The defendants were arrested more than two years ago. After interrogation for their activities with the Islamic Resistance Movement they were charged with “inciting violence and partisan chaos”.

A number are ex-prisoners of the Israelis and served sentences of various lengths. Yet others were arrested by the Palestinian Preventive Service and then re-arrested by the Israelis on their release. They were prosecuted by the Israeli military courts based on confessions obtained in Palestinian jails.