Palestinian lawyers protest against attack on their colleague

The Palestinian Bar Association (PBA) has announced that industrial action will take place on Monday and Tuesday in protest against an attack on one of their colleagues in Bethlehem. All work in all Palestinian courts, public prosecutions and all related official and non-official institutions will be suspended.

In a statement published on its website, the PBA said that all advocates will gather in front of the Palestinian Police headquarters in Ramallah on Tuesday at 11am before holding a press conference.

Such action will continue, said the PBA every time that a lawyer is attacked by the police. The current action started when work was suspended on Sunday afternoon after the Palestinian police attacked an advocate in Bethlehem. The man was subject to a strip search, it is alleged. “What was a great surprise,” said the PBA, “is that this was, apparently, authorised by the Public Prosecution Service.”

At the same time, the legal organisation announced that another of its members was recovering after being attacked by unknown assailants in Nablus.

“Aggression against Palestinian advocates in the West Bank occurs frequently,” claimed Palestinian website Al-Raya. “We call on the Public Prosecutor and the police chief to resign because they are complicit in the Bethlehem attack.”