Israel sentences Palestinian minor to 8 years in prison

Israel’s central court in Jerusalem this morning sentenced a Palestinian teenage girl to eight-and-a-half years in prison, convicting her of attempting to carry out a stabbing attack in occupied East Jerusalem in October 2015.

According to Amjad Abu Asab, head of the Jerusalem Committee for Families of Prisoners, the court sentenced Marah Jawdat Moussa Bakir, 17, from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Beit Hanina to eight-and-a-half years in prison and imposed a fine of 10,000 shekels ($2,595) on her.

Bakir was shot and subsequently detained by Israeli forces on 12 October 2015 after carrying out a stabbing attack which injured two Israelis in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood where she attended the nearby Abdullah Bin Al-Hussein high school.

According to Abu Asab, Bakir sustained critical injuries in her arm and still needs treatment and medical follow-up. The teenager was initially imprisoned in Israel’s Ashkelon prison before being transferred to Ramla prison, and then to HaSharon prison.

According to a February report from the Palestinian Committee of Prisoners’ Affairs, the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) had failed to provide adequate care for at least 29 female Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel’s Hasharon prison last winter, including Bakir, who was one of 11 minors being held in the prison at the time.

Marah Jawdat Moussa Bakir’s family cry after hearing her sentence [Days of Palestine/Twitter]

Marah Jawdat Moussa Bakir’s family cry after hearing her sentence [Days of Palestine/Twitter]

Marah Jawdat Moussa Bakir’s family cry after hearing her sentence [Days of Palestine/Twitter]