Palestinian student arrested after Facebook post

Palestinian intelligence services arrested a media student yesterday morning for “insulting a public official”.

Bara Al-Qadi, 22, posted a status on Facebook mocking Jibril Rajoub, also known as Abu Rami, who leads the Palestinian Football Federation, after the Palestinian team lost 5-1 to Jordan in the Asian cup.

He wrote on Facebook: “Jibril Rajoub, Abu Rami, should be removed from his position after the humiliating performance of our national team and its 5-1 loss to Jordan. The position should be given instead to a character with greater experience in the sports field such as Captain Maged for example,” referring to the popular Arabic cartoon character.

The public prosecution has extended Bara’s detention for a further 48 hours for additional investigations to be carried out, despite him being continuously interrogated from yesterday morning according to family members.

Last year, Al-Qadi was arrested with another journalist Mujahid Al-Saadi as part of the Palestinian Authority’s broader crackdown on social media activists.