Palestinian prisoner held in administrative detention after completing 15 year term

A Palestinian prisoner is being held under administrative detention after completing his nearly 15 year jail term in an Israel jail, Quds Press reported yesterday.

Bilal Kayid should have been released yesterday after completing his sentence but his relatives have reported that he is now being held for an additional six months on administrative detention.

Speaking to Quds Press, Imad Al-Sholi said his relative Kayid was held in solitary confinement in Ashkelon prison for a year before his release date.

Kayid, a member of the Popular Front for the liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was arrested in 2001 and sentenced to 14 and a half years for his activities as part of the group. He was 19 years old at the time of his arrest.

The PFLP called the detention a “Zionist crime” that targets Palestinian prisoners. It called on the international community to put pressure on Israel and force it to stop administrative detentions.

Meanwhile, family members, relatives and friends who had set up a marquee to receive him yesterday, were angered by the news that he was not to be released.

Kayid is now among 750 fellow Palestinians held in administrative detention without charge or trial. Administrative detention orders, issued in the name of the military commander of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, are issued for one to six month periods on the basis of secret evidence, indefinitely renewable.

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