Israeli prison service filed an application demanding the extension of Sheikh Raed Salah’s solitary confinement for another six months, the Safa news agency reported yesterday.
The application comes two weeks before the end of his current solitary confinement of six months which ends on 26 February.
According to Safa, the application included justifications for the extension, including recommendations by the solitary confinement committee, arguing that as the head of a banned Islamic movement, he is an “effective” person that could affect prisoners from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The open court session into Salah’s case will be held at 9am on Thursday, Salah’s defence team said.
Lawyer Khalid Zabarqeh said: “The defence filed an appeal against the extension of the solitary confinement of Sheikh Salah prior to the application of the Israeli prison service, but the court decided to look into the application of the Israeli prison service.”
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“There is no justification for putting Sheikh Salah in solitary confinement based on the legal criteria used in such cases,” Zabarqeh added, stressing that the claim that Salah “poses a danger to Israel’s security because he is the head of the Islamic movement is completely false.”
“This proves that the reasons behind Salah’s detention are political. Therefore, they are void and null.”
Sheikh Salah was arrested from his house on 25 August 2017 and was indicted nine days later by the Israeli Public Prosecution. He was accused of violating the law and inciting terror.
An Israeli court in Haifa decided that he remain in prison until the end of the judicial measures against him. His defence team appealed against the ruling, but the appeal was turned down by the court.