The European Union on Thursday called on the Israeli occupation authorities to immediately release Palestinian prisoner Ahmed Manasra, who is sentenced to 9 years in prison.
The European Union office in Jerusalem said in a tweet that representatives of the Union and a number of member states attended the trial session of the prisoner Manasra (20 years), which was held on Thursday, after he spent a year in solitary confinement, and the Israeli court decided to extend his isolation for another four months.
European Union said: “The United Nations considers solitary confinement for a period of more than 15 days as a form of torture.”
He added, “We call on the Israeli authorities to immediately end his solitary confinement, and to ensure that he receives the necessary psychological assistance and support.”
He continued, “Given serious international concerns about fair trial standards and due process in this case, we call on the Israeli authorities to release him promptly.”
While the Israeli authorities did not issue a comment on the European Union’s invitation until the time of the publication of the news.
Earlier, the Palestinian Prisoners Club reported in a press statement, quoting lawyer Khaled Zabarqa, that the Israeli court in Beersheba extended the isolation of the prisoner Ahmed Manasra, despite his serious health and psychological condition, for a new period of four months, noting that he has been isolated for more than a year, and languishes in the cells of the “Ashkelon” detention center.
It is noteworthy that the prisoner Ahmed Manasra was born on January 22, 2002, in the occupied city of Jerusalem. He is one of a family of 10 members. He has two brothers and is the eldest male in his family, in addition to 5 sisters.
Before his arrest in 2015, he was a student in the eighth grade at the New Generation School in Jerusalem, and he was 13 years old at the time.
Israeli forces arrested Ahmed Manasra in 2015 from the occupied city of Jerusalem, for allegedly attempting to carry out a stabbing attack. The Israeli soldiers shot him and his cousin Hassan, who was martyred on the day of his arrest.
At the time, videos were published of harsh scenes of him lying on the ground screaming and injured. The occupation soldiers also tried to pin him to the ground and abuse him. His case later turned into a global one.
As per media reports, Ahmed Manasra was initially sentenced to 12 years in prison. This was subsequently reduced to 9 years and a fine of over $47,000 which his family struggled to raise.
It is noteworthy that cases suffering from diseases and psychological problems are on the rise inside the prisons of the occupation, as a result of the abusive and repressive policies that prisoners are exposed to, including the policy of isolation, which constitutes the most prominent and most dangerous of these policies.
