{"id":1643,"date":"2023-06-03T19:49:33","date_gmt":"2023-06-03T16:49:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asrafalastin.net\/?p=1643"},"modified":"2023-06-03T19:49:33","modified_gmt":"2023-06-03T16:49:33","slug":"israel-opt-release-prisoner-of-conscience-mohammed-al-halabi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.asrafalastin.net\/?p=1643","title":{"rendered":"Israel\/OPT:\u00a0Release\u00a0prisoner\u00a0of conscience Mohammed al-Halabi\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
Amnesty International is calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Mohammed al-Halabi, a Palestinian prisoner of conscience who is serving a 12-year prison sentence in Israel. Mohammed, a humanitarian worker from Gaza, spent six years in detention pending trial, before he was convicted in deeply flawed proceedings of diverting money to Hamas.<\/p>\n

Mohammed al-Halabi\u2019s\u00a0appeal hearing was supposed to take place\u00a0today, 17 May 2023,\u00a0at Israel\u2019s High Court of Appeals. However,\u00a0his\u00a0defence\u00a0lawyer was forced to request a postponement, because Israeli authorities refused to share essential information, such as a summary of evidence and arguments, ahead of the hearing\u00a0\u2013\u00a0effectively\u00a0scuppering\u00a0any possibility of a fair trial.<\/p>\n

This is the latest contortion in the Kafkaesque nightmare in which Israeli authorities have kept Mohammed al-Halabi trapped in for the past seven years.<\/p>\n

Heba\u00a0Morayef, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Amnesty International<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThis is the latest contortion in the Kafkaesque nightmare which Israeli authorities have kept Mohammed al-Halabi\u00a0and his family trapped for the past seven years. The Israeli authorities\u2019 failure to\u00a0share crucial pre-trial documents ahead of the hearing is part of a deliberate attempt to obstruct justice and prolong Mohammed\u2019s ordeal,\u201d said Heba\u00a0Morayef, Amnesty International\u2019s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeven\u00a0years on from\u00a0Mohammed al-Halabi\u2019s\u00a0arrest, Israeli authorities have failed to present any credible evidence that would justify his imprisonment.\u00a0He has been targeted for his humanitarian work,\u00a0as part of Israel\u2019s ongoing efforts to crush Palestinian civil society\u00a0and\u00a0independent\u00a0aid organizations working in the occupied Gaza Strip.\u00a0Mohammed\u00a0al-Halabi\u00a0is a\u00a0prisoner of conscience\u00a0who\u00a0must be\u00a0immediately\u00a0and unconditionally released, and his conviction must be quashed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Israeli Security Agency (Shabak)\u00a0used the recent \u201csecurity escalation\u201d in Gaza as\u00a0a pretext for\u00a0failing to share\u00a0material with Mohammed\u2019s lawyer \u2013 even though the appeal hearing had been scheduled for months.<\/p>\n

Catalogue of violations<\/h2>\n

Mohammed al-Halabi\u00a0was the director of the Gaza office of the US-based charity World Vision until his arrest in 2016. He has dedicated his life to supporting and empowering children and people with disabilities, who are among those most affected by Israel\u2019s illegal blockade and recurrent military offensives on the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n

On 15 June 2022, after spending six gruelling years in detention, Mohammed was convicted of diverting millions of dollars to the Hamas administration, which Israel considers a terrorist group, after a deeply flawed trial.\u00a0On 30 August 2022 he was handed a 12-year prison sentence \u2013 six more years.<\/p>\n

An independent investigation commissioned by World Vision, and another commissioned by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which is a donor to World Vision, found no evidence of diverted funds.<\/p>\n

Israeli authorities have failed to present any credible evidence that would justify Mohammed al-Halabi\u2019s imprisonment.\u00a0He has been targeted for his humanitarian work,\u00a0as part of Israel\u2019s ongoing efforts to crush Palestinian civil society.<\/p>\n

Heba Morayef<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mohammed\u00a0was\u00a0tried in\u00a0secret hearings, during which the\u00a0Beersheba\u00a0District\u00a0Court completely disregarded\u00a0abundant\u00a0evidence\u00a0clearing\u00a0him\u00a0of any wrongdoing. His conviction was\u00a0largely based\u00a0on the testimony of a prisoner informant who had previously been found guilty of\u00a0perjury, as well as so-called \u201csecret evidence\u201d which neither Mohammed nor his lawyer were allowed to access.<\/p>\n

Israeli authorities have failed\u00a0to investigate\u00a0Mohammed al-Halabi\u2019s\u00a02018\u00a0complaint of torture and other ill-treatment while under interrogation\u00a0by the\u00a0Shabak.<\/p>\n

In a demonstration of personal integrity and resilience, Mohammed\u00a0refused\u00a0numerous\u00a0plea bargain offers which would have given him a\u00a0commuted sentence in exchange for\u00a0\u201cconfessing\u201d\u00a0to charges\u00a0which\u00a0he vehemently denies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe repeated\u00a0prolonging of Mohammed\u2019s\u00a0ordeal is unconscionably\u00a0cruel\u00a0and unjust,\u00a0especially in the wake of yet another Israeli assault on Gaza where\u00a0his wife,\u00a0Ola,\u00a0and\u00a0their\u00a0five\u00a0children live. Imagine being locked up for a crime you did not commit, knowing that bombs are falling around your terrified family\u00a0\u2013 this is the reality of Israel\u2019s apartheid,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Heba\u00a0Morayef.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe\u00a0catalogue of\u00a0human rights\u00a0violations to which Mohammad\u00a0al-Halabi\u00a0has been subjected\u00a0demonstrates once again how\u00a0Israel\u2019s justice system\u00a0helps to\u00a0maintain\u00a0apartheid against Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/article>\n