On Monday morning, Palestinian Jerusalemite youth Abdel-Karim Shiyoukhi, 18, was ordered to 6 months in administrative detention without charge or trial. Despite earlier being ordered released by the Israeli police without conditions or a court hearing, several hours later, he was ordered to administrative detention for a six-month period. Palestinian lawyer Mohammed Mahmoud said that these actions indicate a clear lack of evidence despite earlier allegations of “incitement on Facebook.”
Shiyoukhi was arrested on 10 January from his home in Silwan and accused of posting a positive Facebook comment about the Palestinian resistance action of Fadi al-Qanbar, who ran over uniformed Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem with his truck, killing four soldiers and injuring 15. Shiyoukhi, a former prisoner who spent 18 months in Israeli prison, denied the allegation; apparently unable to substantiate it, Israeli occupation forces instead ordered him to administrative detention.
In addition, the imprisonment of Palestinian Legislative Council member Hassan Yousef without charge or trial was extended for the fourth time on Monday, 16 January. There are seven members of the PLC currently held in Israeli jails; Yousef, 62, has been imprisoned since 20 October 2015. He has now spent 15 months in administrative detention; his renewal order is for a three-month period. Yousef is a member of the PLC for the Change and Reform bloc associated with the Hamas movement
Throughout his life, he has spent 21 years in Israeli prison; recently, much of that has been in administrative detention. He had been held without charge or trial and released on 27 June 2015, only four months before his re-arrest. His fellow imprisoned PLC members include Ahmed Mubarak, arrested on Monday morning; exiled Jerusalemite Mohammed Abu Teir, serving a 17-month sentence; PFLP General Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat, serving a 30-year sentence; Fateh leader Marwan Barghouthi, serving multiple life sentences; and Mohammed Natsheh and Azzam Salhab, both held in administrative detention without charge or trial.
