clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Israel releases Sheikh Yousuf Al-Baz, places him under restrictive conditions

October 1, 2022 at 12:58 pm

Sheikh Yousef Al-Baz [qudsn/Twitter]

Israeli occupation authorities on Thursday released Palestinian citizen of Israel, Sheikh Yousuf Al-Baz, from prison and placed him under restrictive conditions.

Al-Baz, 64, from the city of Lod, was detained on 17 June over claims of inciting violence on social media, referring to his posts published during the Israeli offensive on Gaza in May last year.

When he was detained, Al-Baz’s lawyer Khaled Zabarqa told Anadolu Agency that the claim against him was a “farce”.

Last week, the Israeli Supreme Court approved an appeal filed by his defence committee and ordered to place him under restrictive conditions.

The Supreme Court returned the case file to the Israeli District Court in Lod to determine the conditions for his release by electronic registration and, on Thursday, it ordered his release.

According to his defence team, he was placed under house arrest, fitted with an electronic tag, banned from travel, instructed to pay NIS20,000 to the court and prohibited from using the internet.

Al-Baz, who served as imam of the Al-Omari Great Mosque in Lod from 1991 to 2018 and still delivers speeches in mosques across Israel, was initially detained on 30 April.

His defence team said that the conditions of his release “were not legal and were politically motivated,” pledging to continue defending him until his file is closed.

READ: Israel warns Russian citizens they might be drafted to fight Ukraine