Israeli Authorities refuse to release female Palestinian prisoner

Monday June 11, 2007 14:17 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC

The Israeli prison authorities, on Monday, refused an appeal made by Mandila Association for prisoners' affairs to release a Palestinian prisoner and her infant from an Israeli detention camp.

Arhcive photo- detainees in Al Jalama prison

In a press release issued by the association, Mandila stated that the association filed an appeal for the release of Samar Sobeh and her infant from the Hasharon Israeli detention camp. Sobeh has server one third of her sentence.

Sobeh was kidnapped from her home in the West Bank during a military operation in September 2005. At the time of her kidnapping, she was two months pregnant and delivered her baby in an Israeli prison hospital in April 2006.

An Israeli court sentenced the woman to 28 months in prison and issued her with a 2000 NIS fine.

Her husband was also kidnapped by the army in September 2005. After serving several administrative detentions, he was deported to the Gaza Strip in July 2006 and is barred from re-entering the West Bank.

There are currently more than 12,000 Palestinian prisoners being held in detention camps across Israeli. The majority of these prisoners are held under administrative detention, a policy outlawed by the Geneva Convention and illegal under international law.

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