Palestinian prisoner Ahmed Manasra failed to communicate with his lawyer during his visit to the Ramle Prison Hospital in central Israel on Friday, Wafa News Agency reported.
The defense team said in a statement that in this meeting with lawyer Zabarka, Ahmed did not communicate visually or verbally with the lawyer, and seemed to show signs of illness and general exhaustion.
Moreover, traces of wounds appeared along the left side of his arm down to his wrist, as well as on his right arm.
The defence team said, “According to the advice of the psychological staff that is following up his case with the defence staff, this situation is very worrying, and there is a serious and real danger to Ahmed’s general psychological health if he continues to remain in the occupation prisons.”
As a result, the defence team submitted an urgent request to the Israeli Prison Authority to release Manasra immediately due to the deterioration in his psychological health condition.
The Israel Prison Service on Monday, June 13, transferred Ahmed Manasra to the Ramle Prison Hospital after his mental health deteriorated.
Ahmed expected to appear before the court on Wednesday, June 15, but his deteriorating health condition led to the cancellation of the session and it was postponed to Sunday, June 19.
On June 18, the human rights organization Amnesty International called on the Israeli occupation authorities to immediately release Ahmed Manasra.
“Ahmed Manasra has been subjected to a catalogue of injustices by the Israeli authorities, including deleterious effects of incarceration on his development and prolonged solitary confinement. He endured ill-treatment during interrogations, which were conducted without his parents or lawyers’ presence, and was denied the right to a fair trial. He should have been released a long time ago, yet he remains in unnecessary suffering in Israeli prisons,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“Pending his release from detention, he must be given access to adequate medical care and never be placed in solitary confinement again. Allegations of torture and other human rights violations that Ahmed has suffered must be effectively and transparently investigated.”
A petition has been launched by activists demanding the immediate release of the young Palestinian Ahmed Manasra after six years of profound systematic abuse in an Israeli prison.
The petition, on www.change.org, was initiated by Palestine-Global Mental Health Network. More than 400,000 have signed the petition so far.
The Palestinian writer and broadcaster, Samar Jarrah, said on Twitter, “I think that the entity is conducting experiments on Ahmed with psychological war and torturing him in solitary confinement, as part of the policy of removing childhood.”
On June 9, the prisoner’s mother appealed to the world, during a press conference, to stop the injustice being practised against her son, stressing that her son needs to be free.
Ahmed Manasra’s family called on “human rights and international institutions to intervene in order to pressure the occupation to release him in light of the harsh psychological and living conditions he suffers in the prisons of the Israeli occupation.”
Israeli forces arrested Ahmed Manasra in 2015 from the occupied city of Jerusalem, for allegedly attempting to carry out a stabbing attack. He was 13-year-old, and he is currently 20-year-old, and the Israeli soldiers shot him and his cousin Hassan, who was martyred on the day of his arrest.
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.
Ahmed suffers from psychological disorders and suffers from Edema which causes severe headaches and pain.
