Lawyer Khaled Zabarka – from the defense team of Sheikh Raed Salah – said that the sheikh has been subjected to psychological intimidation and harsh abuse inside the prisons of the Israeli occupation, due to his presence in harsh solitary confinement for a continuous period of about 12 months.

Zabarka explained, in an exclusive statement to “Safa” agency on Thursday, that the conditions of Sheikh Salah’s arrest and the restrictions he is subjected to, and the policy of suffocation practiced against him cause him great suffering and severe pain in his life, especially since he is in solitary confinement in the “Ramon” desert prison. .

He pointed out that the occupation does not allow Sheikh Salah to communicate with anyone, except for the lawyers’ staff, and his family visits him once a month, warning at the same time, of his continued isolation and the extent of its danger to his health.

He considered that the Israeli restrictions on Sheikh Salah and the continuation of the abuse of him aims to take revenge on him and his activities, his program and methodology, and undermining his morale.

He added, “They know that the sheikh has a great influence on the Palestinian arena at home and at the international level, so they deal with him out of the logic of revenge, not the law.”

Zabarka stated that the lawyers’ team communicates with Sheikh Salah through extensive visits to review his conditions, follow up on his health, as well as procedures with the prison administration.

He continued, “We have submitted requests to transfer Sheikh Salah to another prison, transfer him to a general section and prevent the continuation of his solitary confinement, and there is communication with international human rights organizations to raise the issue of his isolation at the international level.”

Zabarqa called on international institutions to intervene urgently to stop the policy of harassment and harassment against Sheikh Salah, and to work immediately for his release.

The defense team of Sheikh Salah confirmed that the imprisonment of Sheikh Salah in solitary confinement is one of the forms of torture practiced by the occupation authorities against him, in addition to the policies of suffocation and restrictions, with the aim of humiliation and humiliation, which they practice on the Sheikh while he is isolated in a solitary cell.

In a statement, the defense staff indicated that all the prison periods that Sheikh Salah was subjected to were carried out under harsh conditions in the harsh solitary confinement department, “for no reason other than to quench the vengeance of the Israeli authorities against the Sheikh because of his activity against their aggressive plans.”

In turn, the Higher Follow-up Committee for the Arabs called on the Israeli Prison Authority and its government to stop the abuse of Sheikh Raed Salah, considering the dismissal as political revenge, which was not stipulated in the ruling, which it rejects in the first place.

In solidarity with Sheikh Salah, the Freedoms Committee emanating from the Follow-up Committee announced that it is in the process of taking a series of protest steps against the prison authority’s practices against Sheikh Al-Asir, the first of which will be a mass Friday prayer in front of Ramon Prison on August 13; Further steps will be taken in due course.

The Freedoms Committee demanded that Sheikh Salah be removed from solitary confinement and an end to the policy of restricting him, calling on the people to participate in the announced Friday prayers and to interact with the subsequent series of steps.

Since the events that took place in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque since July 17, 2017, Sheikh Salah has been subjected to a systematic campaign led by ministers in the occupation government, and Minister Israel Katz threatened to arrest and exile him outside the occupied territories.

On February 10, 2020, the Occupation Court imposed an actual prison sentence on Sheikh Salah of 28 months in the “constant file” with a reduction of the 11 months he spent in actual detention in the aforementioned file.

Sheikh Salah spent various sentences in Israeli prisons, the first was in 1981, the second in 2003, and the third in 2010, while he was arrested a year later in Britain, then re-arrested in 2016, and since 2017, he is included in the so-called “constant file.” .

Safa