Israel rejects resistance icon’s 'conditional' release

JERUSALEM (AA) - An Israeli court on Thursday rejected a request for the “conditional release” of Raed Salah, the jailed leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, according to Salah’s lawyer.

“Based on an appeal filed by the Israeli Public Prosecution against a decision by the Magistrates Court to release Salah, the Haifa District Court today rejected [the request for] his release,” Khaled Zbarqa told Anadolu Agency.

Zbarqa attributed the decision to “political interference” in the case, saying that Israeli Internal Security Minister Gilad Arad had personally called for keeping Salah behind bars.

Two weeks ago, the Magistrates Court preliminarily approved Salah’s conditional release.

The “conditions” included a ban on entering Salah’s hometown of Umm al-Fahm and other restrictions on his movement.

Last summer, Israeli police arrested Salah in Umm al-Fahm -- a Palestinian town in northern Israel -- before convicting him of “inciting violence” and throwing him into solitary confinement.

In February, a court in the southern city of Beersheba slapped the prominent resistance icon with a further six months in isolation.