Hamas lawmaker sentenced to a year in prison by Israeli courts

The second man in line for the Palestinian Authority (PA) presidency, Aziz Duwaik, was issued a 12-month prison sentence and a 6,000 shekel ($1,546) fine by an Israeli court near Ramallah on Monday.

Duwaik, a senior Hamas member and speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), was arrested at his home in Hebron in June 2014 during the mass arrest campaign which targeted many Hamas leaders and deputies in the legislative council.

The arrests took place after three Israeli students went missing in Hebron, an incident which sparked the 51-day Gaza war during the summer of 2014.

Over 14 court hearings he was charged with several offences some of which were associated with events that took place several years ago.

Duwaik’s lawyer appealed a 14-month prison sentence handed down to the parliamentarian during his last hearing held several days ago, reported the Palestinian news website Arab 48.

The Hamas speaker has already served several sentences in Israeli prisons which together add up to a total of four years.

He was arrested in January 2012 on suspicion of terrorist activity. He was previously arrested and jailed in August 2006, after the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, but was released in 2009. 

Apart from Duwaik, 12 other Palestinian deputies are currently in Israeli detention including Hassan Yousef, Mohamed Jamal Natshe, Hosni Borini, Mohammed Maher Badr, Azzam Salhab, Riad Raddad, Nayef Rajoub and Khalil al-Rubayi, as well as parliamentarians Ahmed Saadat, Marwan Bargouthi and Khaleda Jarrar.

Condemnation

The Change and Reform bloc of parliamentarians, which represents Hamas in the PLC, has strongly condemned the sentence and called for international condemnation of the court decision against Duwaik.  

The bloc has also declared the court’s sentences as void due to the trials being held by Israel on Palestinian lands, calling all regional and international parliaments to stand up in the face of aggression against Palestinian legitimacy.

A representative of the parliamentary bloc, Mohamed Shihab, called on the international community and the UN to take up the issue of Palestinian parliamentarians in Israeli prisons, reported Arab 48.

Hamas lawmaker Ahmad Attoun condemned the sentence as a move against Palestinian legitimacy and a tool of oppression by the Israeli government.

“Duwaik has been sentenced only because he represents his people. He is being tried just because he was elected by the Palestinians. This is a political trial,” Attoun told MEE.

“Parliamentarians across the international community must condemn and reverse this unjust sentence. The Israeli courts have not observed any international principles or conventions,” he added.

Attoun went on to condemn the PA, which he says has been silent on the matter.

“This is not the first time Duwaik is detained, but what tops it off this time is silence of the PA and the lack of a clear stance on the sentence,” said Attoun.

PLC speaker Ahmed Bahr also spoke out against Duwaik's sentencing, calling on the international community to act in solidarity with the parliamentarian and reverse his sentence, reported Arab 48.

In a statement released by the legislative council’s media office on Monday, Bahr said that Duwaik’s trial lacked due process and was a political trial that aimed to oppress the Palestinian people.

Like Shihab, Bahr also called on the international community to abide by the international principles of the Fourth Geneva Convention regarding Palestinian rights on the occupied territories.

In 2006, Duwaik was voted in during the elections when Hamas overpowered Fatah, leading to their violent seizure of Gaza. However, the PLC has been inactive for several years.

According to the laws of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's (PLO) government, the speaker of the PLC takes the place of the PA president in a case of emergency, meaning Duwaik is second-in-line to PA President Mahmoud Abbas.