Ramallah, 7 March 2012 – An Israeli military judge postponed the decision in the appeal of Hana Shalabi’s four-month administrative detention order in her hearing today, 7 March. Hana expressed her undeterred intention to continue her hunger strike, now on its 21st day, until she is released.
Addameer lawyer Mahmoud Hassan noted that Hana appeared to be very weak in today’s hearing, and was handled roughly by soldiers. The military judge only allowed four of Hana’s lawyers to be present in the room and asked all others to leave. After hearing the legal arguments of her defense team and the military prosecution, the judge requested that the prosecution consider revising its position before he made a decision. He stated that he would make his decision on Sunday, 11 March, or Monday, 12 March.
Hana’s father arrived at Ofer military base at 8:00 am in order to see Hana, but the military judge and Israeli soldiers made every effort to ensure that he would not be able to see her even from a distance. Furthermore, the door of the courtroom in which the hearing took place was locked so that no one would be able to open the door for him to look through from outside. The military judge repeatedly rejected all of Hana’s lawyers’ inquiries related to this matter.
Prior to this afternoon’s hearing, members of the Nahshon—a special escort and intervention unit of the Israeli Prison Service known for its particularly brutal treatment of Palestinian prisoners—arrived to transfer Hana from Hasharon Prison to Ofer. Hana stated that prior to her transfer to the court, a female soldier informed Hana that she would be conducting a strip search in front of the other female prisoners. After arguing, the female soldier agreed to conduct the strip search in the bathroom. After the strip search, Hana was told that she would be punished upon her return to Hasharon. Hana’s arms and legs were then shackled in a very strict manner.
Addameer condemns the appalling treatment to which Hana has been subject throughout her detention. Addameer calls upon the international community to exert direct and urgent pressure on Israel to ensure the immediate release of Hana Shalabi and the over 300 other Palestinian administrative detainees.