Israeli court conditionally releases pregnant Palestinian prisoner

By Awad Rajoub

RAMALLAH, Palestine - (AA) An Israeli court ruled Thursday to conditionally release Palestinian prisoner Anhar Al-Deek because she is nine months pregnant.

“The Ofer Military Court decided to release her on a financial bail of 40,000 shekels ($12,500) while also putting her under house arrest in her family’s home in the town of Kafr Ni’ma (west of Ramallah),” the Palestine Liberation Organization’s committee for prisoners' affairs quoted Al-Deek’s lawyer Akram Samara as saying.

Al-Deek, 25, sent a letter to her family on Aug. 25, appealing to human rights defenders to take up her case.

“What shall I do if I give birth while I’m away from you (her family)?” al-Deek wrote. “I am handcuffed and you know how a cesarean operation [is difficult] outside the prison. How will I go through this experience while I’m in prison and alone?"

Al-Deek said prison authorities will hold her in solitary confinement after she gives birth.

She was detained five months ago on accusations of attempting to carry out a stabbing in an Israeli settlement near her town. Her husband was allowed to visit her just once.

Her mother, Aisha, told Anadolu Agency that her daughter is experiencing a difficult psychological situation.

According to the prisoners’ affairs committee, the court held a session Wednesday to consider a release request submitted by Al-Deek’s lawyer, but the judge postponed a final decision until next Sunday.

There are around 4,850 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, including 41 women, 225 children and 540 administrative detainees, according to observers.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara