Middle East Monitor / February 25, 2021
An Israeli court yesterday extended the solitary confinement of Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, his lawyer Khaled Zabarqa told the media.
This came following the Israeli Prison Services’ request for such a move due to the alleged danger Salah poses to Israel’s security.
Salah is now enduring his new term of six months of isolation at Ohli Kedar prison in the Beersheba desert, where he spent the previous six months in isolation.
The court prevented 62-year-old Salah from talking or meeting anyone except his lawyer and his family.
“Sheikh Salah is a well-known, influential and important symbol for the media, but according to the Israeli interpretation, he is a threat to Israel’s security,” Zabarqa was quoted as saying by the Palestinian Information Centre.
Salah was detained by Israeli forces in August 2017 and indicted for incitement following his criticism of the erection of metal detectors at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
He was sentenced to 28 months in prison by an Israeli court. He served 11 months, half of which was spent in solitary confinement, before he was moved to house arrest.
After two years under house arrest, in August 2020, Salah began a 17-month jail term on incitement charges.
