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Release of veteran Palestinian prisoner delayed because of 'Jewish holidays'

February 20, 2014 at 3:33 pm

The Israeli occupation on Monday, 9th May, refused to release one of the longest serving Palestinian prisoners from the Gaza Strip under the pretext of the Jewish holidays. Palestinian sources confirm that the prisons’ administration refused to release 39 year old Atef Atta Hassan, a resident of Mugharqa town in the central Gaza Strip, following the completion of his 18 year prison term.
 
Forces of the Israeli occupation arrested Hassan on the 25th October 1993. He was charged with resisting the occupation and being part of the first cell of the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, and was sentenced to 18 years in prison; a sentence that ended on Monday.


Palestinian sources quoted Hassan from inside the prison as saying that the prisons’ administration had informed him of the decision to postpone his release, which was scheduled for Monday when his sentence expired, until Wednesday or Thursday next week due to the Jewish holidays.
 
This is not the first time that authorities of the occupation have postponed the release of a prisoner due to the Jewish holidays. About a month ago, it postponed the release of Hassan Azawarae for two weeks after he had served a seven year sentence.