In protest of the harsh conditions of his detention and the punitive measures by the Israeli prisons authority, Palestinian detainee Mohammed al-Arida initiates an open hunger strike.
Karim Ajwa, the lawyer of the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs, stated that prisoner Mohammed al-Arida began an open hunger strike on Monday in protest of the harsh conditions of his detainment.
Ajwa pointed out in a statement that the Askalan Prison administration conducted an internal trial for al-Arida last Friday and imposed more penalties on him. The prisoner is detained under harsh isolation conditions in a CCTV-monitored dirty, unventilated cell.
Karim Ajwa: Al-Arida does not even have a sleeping pillow
The lawyer revealed that the prison administration imposed several penalties on al-Arida, including 14 days in solitary confinement without any of his personal belongings. He does not even have a blanket and a sleeping pillow.
Al-Arida was deprived of family visits and prevented from entering the prison canteen area for two months. Electrical appliances were withdrawn from his room and he received monetary fines.
Al-Arida: I am being held in difficult conditions
Ajwa quoted prisoner al-Arida as saying that he is being held in harsh conditions in a dirty, narrow, and foul-smelling cell, with only the clothes he has on. He complained that he has not showered for several days because there is a CCTV in the cell’s bathroom.
Mohammed al-Arida confirmed to the lawyer that he will continue his hunger strike until the difficult and harsh conditions of his detention are improved.
Abd-Rabbo: Hunger strike can take a heavy toll on al-Arida’s health
In his turn, the Spokesman for the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs, Hassan Abd-Rabbo, confirmed that prisoner al-Arida is imprisoned in a cell that does not have any of the basic necessities of life.
Abd-Rabbo told Al Mayadeen that if al-Arida’s hunger strike is extended, it can take a heavy toll on his health
Rearrest of al-Arida
It is noteworthy that the occupation had re-arrested prisoner Mohammed al-Arida along with prisoner al-Zubaidi near the village of Umm Al-Ghanam in the Lower Al-Jalil region on September 11, after they managed to liberate themselves along with 4 others through a tunnel they had dug under the Gilboa prison, the most fortified Israeli prisons.
source : almayadeen.net