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Israel prosecutor says bail denied in incitement cases only for Arabs

October 9, 2018 at 3:04 pm

Palestinian activist and citizen of Israel, Raja Eghbaria [Raja Eghbaria/Facebook]

An Israeli prosecutor revealed in court on Sunday that the state “has only ever sought detention until the end of court proceedings for Arab suspects in online incitement to terror cases – but never for Jewish suspects”, reported legal rights centre Adalah.

Palestinian political activist Raja Eghbaria is currently detained by Israeli authorities, charged with incitement, since he was first arrested on 11 September. Eghbaria is a member of the High Follow-Up Committee for Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel and part of Abnaa Al-Balad political movement.

During the most recent hearing in Haifa Magistrate’s Court, according to Adalah, “it was revealed that the state was unable to point to one case of suspected online incitement to terrorism in which detention without bond until the end of trial was sought for a Jewish defendant.”

READ: Palestinian activist and Israeli citizen detained over Facebook posts

“In contrast, the state has made multiple requests for detention until the end of proceedings against Arab defendants in such cases,” Adalah added.

Adalah General Director Attorney Hassan Jabareen and Adalah Attorney Rabea Eghbariah, together with private attorneys Afnan Khalifa and Omar Khamaisa, “argued that the prosecutor’s policy of filing detention requests until the end of proceedings for Arab suspects only is discriminatory”.

In addition, the defence team noted how the prosecutor does not deny the existence of multiple errors in its translation of Eghbaria’s Arabic-language Facebook posts – indeed, the state further added that, even if there were errors in the translation, “it doesn’t matter”.

Adalah and partner attorneys called for the immediate release of Eghbaria without any restrictive conditions. The court extended the detention until 15 October, when a final decision will be made on the request for detention until the end of the proceedings.