Mais Abu Gush Sentenced to 16 Months in Prison and a Fine

On Sunday, 3 May 2020, the Israeli military court at Ofer sentenced Mais Abu Gush to 16 months in prison starting from the day of her arrest, 29 August 2019. The sentence also included a suspended sentence which begins from the day of her release, and is 12 months in prison for the coming five years. Furthermore, Mais sentence included a 2000 NIS fine as well.

The military court sentenced Mais on two different charges, the first was affiliation to an ill-legal organization which is the Progressive Democratic Student Group at Birzeit University and her activities with the Journalism department at the university. The second charge was communication with an enemy party and that she has met activists from Hizbullah during a conference on the right to return in Beirut which was held in 2018 and agreed to right for al-Noor newspaper.

Moreover, the defense lawyer assured that Mais’s injuries and severe pain in the back are result of the torture she was subjected to during her interrogation. The judge at the military court mention her decision the torture Mais was subjected to and the existing evidence for it. Addameer’s lawyer confirmed Mais’s right to hold the perpetrators accountable for the crime of torture which was committed against her.