WEST BANK (Middle East Eye) – Prominent Palestinian religious and political figure Sheikh Raed Salah was released from the Zionist regime’s Megiddo prison on Monday, after completing a 17-month sentence on ‘incitement’ charges. Salah spent all of his sentence in solitary confinement.
Salah’s lawyers in September appealed for his release, arguing to the court that the detention has caused him physical and psychological harm.
The court rejected the appeal and ruled that Salah would stay in isolation until the end of his sentence.
Omar Khmaisa, one of Salah’s lawyers, told Middle East Eye that the sheikh had suffered appalling conditions in solitary confinement and was not allowed to communicate with anyone.
“His isolation was total... He was detained alone in a separate section [of the prison], which was an unusual procedure,” Khmaisa said.
The lawyer added that Salah intends to continue with his work for the Palestinian people.
Known for his defense of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and Palestinian rights, Salah was the leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement until 2015.
Hundreds of residents and activists from different Palestinian cities and villages in the occupied territories greeted Salah at the entrance to his hometown of Umm al-Fahm, a predominantly Palestinian village south of Haifa.
In November 2019, Salah faced charges of “incitement”, regarding speeches he made during protests in July 2017 against the installation of metal detectors at the outer gates of the Al-Aqsa compound in occupied East Al-Quds.