Palestinian political prisoner Samer Al-Eesawy signed an agreement with the Israeli prosecution for him to be released to his hometown in occupied East Jerusalem. The agreement was in return for ending his hunger strike, which began last august.Lawyer of the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) Jawad Boulos, stated that Al-Eesawy resumed taking supplements and vitamins advised by the physicians, and will end his hunger strike.
Talking to his sister, Lawyer Shireen Al-Eesawy, Samer thanked her and all persons and groups who supported him and expressed solidarity with his strike demanding an end to his illegal detention.
Under the agreement, Al-Eesawy will be released on December 23; the agreement states that Al-Eesawy violated the terms of his release under the Shalit Prisoner Swap Deal by entering the West Bank and therefore will be sentenced to eight months.
Al-Eesawy’s uncle, Hani Al-Eesawy, stated that he managed to talk to Samer at the Kapalan Israeli hospital, and that al-Eesawy told him that he signed the agreement after meeting with Boulos who explained its terms and conditions to him.
Al-Eesawy said that the agreement is a victory resulting from his determination and steadfastness as he rejected all offers regarding his exile from Jerusalem in return for his release.
He thanked all media outlets and activists who helped publicize his cause and stood by him during his extended and painful hunger strike, and called for more attention and solidarity with all detainees held by Israel, especially those who are ill and facing imminent death in Israeli prisons.
Al-Eesawy will currently remain hospitalized for rehabilitation and urgently needed medical attention resulting from his extended hunger strike.
The detainee started his strike after Israeli soldiers kidnapped him in direct violation of the Prisoner Swap deal that secured his release, in October of 2011, along with more than a 1000 detainees in return for the release of Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, who was captured by the resistance in Gaza in June of 2006.
The Israeli Military Prosecution was demanding that Al-Eesawy should be sentenced to 10-24 years. For “violating the terms of his release”.
Article #186 of Israeli Military order #1651 regarding the cancellation of early releases of Palestinian detainees, allows a special military committee headed by military judges to re-arrest Palestinian detainees who were released under the prisoner-swap deal of October 2011.
Israel allows the re-arrest of detainees under the claim that they violated the terms of their release; therefore, the special committee can demand reinstating the original sentence. In Al-Eesawy’s case, the sentence is 20 years.
