[Ppnews] Khader Adnan ends hunger strike - court to "erase" his file and release him on April 17

[Political Prisoner News]

Palestinian detainee ends hunger strike
Israel agrees to free Khader Adnan on April 17 as part of a deal to 
end his 66-day fast over his illegal detention.

Last Modified: 21 Feb 2012 16:42
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/02/201222113016367480.html


A Palestinian detained by Israel, Khader Adnan, has agreed to end his 
66-day hunger strike as part of a deal under which he will be 
released without charge, sources tell Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera's Nisreen El-Shamayleh, reporting from Adnan's hometown of 
Jenin in the West Bank, quoted officials as saying on Tuesday that 
"Adnan has informed his lawyers that he has suspended his hunger 
strike and agreed to the offer to serve his sentence until April 17".

A spokesperson for the Israeli Supreme Court earlier told Al Jazeera 
that based on the deal reached between Adnan's lawyers and the 
Israeli justice ministry, he would end his fast in return for the 
court's decision to "erase" his file and release him on April 17, 
ending his "administrative detention".

Israel's supreme court had been expected to hear an urgent appeal by 
Adnan's lawyer later on Tuesday, but the hearing was cancelled after 
news of the deal became public.

"This man had no charges until now, no interrogation came up with any 
conclusions, no evidence against him. This is the truth, this is the 
reality," Jawad Bulus, one of Adnan's lawyers, told Al Jazeera.

"After three weeks of severe interrogation they shifted him as 
administrative detainee, where no charges could be faced. The only 
phrase that came of out of them is that this man is a prominent 
activist in the Islamic Jihad of Palestine, which can be said against 
anybody in the world."

Bulus said about 300 Palestinian "administrative detainees" still 
remain in Israeli prisons.

Potent symbol

Adnan has become a potent symbol of protest against Israel's practice 
of holding suspects without trial.

The continued detention of the 33-year-old Palestinian from the 
occupied West Bank had led to global anger, with protesters clashing 
with police on Tuesday in the latest such incident in the occupied West Bank.

Israel arrested Adnan, a baker by profession, on December 17 near the 
northern West Bank town of Jenin.

Israel accuses him of being a spokesman for the Palestinian group, 
Islamic Jihad.

Adnan's protest has seen him break the record for the longest hunger 
strike by a Palestinian prisoner, with the previous record set in 
1976 when a group of prisoners refused food for 45 days.

Married for seven years, Adnan has two small daughters, Maali, four 
and 18-month-old Bissan. His wife, Randa, is five months pregnant 
with a baby boy.

Speaking to the AFP news agency on Monday, his wife described him as 
a determined man with very strong principles who would "stick to his 
message, even if he has to sacrifice his life".

"For him, a principle is a principle," she said.

Adnan is one of some 5,000 Palestinian prisoners being held in 
Israeli jails, and one of more than 300 currently being held in 
administrative detention.

His case sparked expressions of concern from the EU and the UN, and 
has gained widespread support among Palestinians.




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