Palestinians hold placards depicting prisoner Samer al-Issawi, who has been on hunger strike, during a protest in the West Bank city of Ramallah (file photo)
Israeli forces have carried out a night raid on the home of a Palestinian prisoner who is currently on long-term hunger strike in Israeli jail, arresting his brother, a report says.
Forces raided the family home of Samer al-Issawi, a 33-year-old Palestinian prisoner, in Issawiya on the outskirt of east Jerusalem. They took away al-Issawi’s brother, AFP said in a report on Monday.
Issawi was arrested in July 2012 only months after being released as part of a prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas. He has been on hunger strike since August 2012 to protest against his administrative detention.
“At 2:30am (0030 GMT), Israeli forces barged into our house without any warrant or order and locked us all in one room while five men attacked Shadi and took him away,” his sister Shireen said.
“Lawyers were not allowed access to him and he had a secret hearing without a lawyer which handed him a four-day detention,” she added.
She also said that a Jerusalem court is expected to hold a hearing on Tuesday on Samer Issawi’s case.
“Tomorrow at 2:30pm at Jerusalem Magistrates Court, there will be a hearing for Samer,” she said, adding he was due in court on March 14.
Administrative detention is a sort of imprisonment without trial or charge that allows Israel to incarcerate Palestinians for up to six months. The detention order can be renewed for indefinite periods of time.
On February 16, EU foreign policy chief Catherin Ashton said in a statement that the European Union was following “with concern reports about the deteriorating health condition” of Ayman Sharawneh, Samer al-Issawi, Jaafar Ezzedine, and Tareq Qaa’dan.
Ashton called on the Tel Aviv regime to bring “formal charges” against detainees and “allow for the immediate restoration of their family visiting rights and calls for the full respect of international human rights obligations” towards them.
SAB/JR
