On 6 December 2015, the charge sheet of Palestinian Legislative Council member was modified from 12 charges to 2 charges: namely, membership in an illegal organization and incitement. Her sentence has been set to 15 months, with a fine of 10,000 NIS and a suspended sentence of 12 months within a 5 year period.  

Palestinian Legislative Council member Khalida Jarrar was arrested on 2 April 2015 and initially placed under an administrative detention order of 6 months, which was subsequently limited to one month and two days. She was then charged with 12 charges, following international outcry at her administrative detention order.

Addameer underlines that the information used against Mrs. Jarrar involved information as old as 2009, and that the fact that she was charged years later in 2015 indicates the arrest is a politically motivated one. The charge sheet was also built on witness testimonies including those from released prisoners, whose presentation of testimonies was delayed by the prosecution’s failure to bring them forth. These such delays in addition to the exhausting transfer process of the detainees in their transfer from prisons to the military court itself leads to the willingness of the accused to consent to plea agreements.

Addameer also underlines that the continued use of these military courts in the trials of Palestinian civilians and Palestinian representative leaders are not in compliance with international law, particularly in contravention with Articles 64 and 66 of the Fourth Geneva Convention (12 August 1949), and Article 43 of the Hague Conventions (1907).

Addameer calls for a national legal stance for the boycott of these military courts which are in contravention with international law. It also calls for the referral of the continued use of these military courts in the trials of Palestinian civilians and representative leaders to the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, as these military court trials fail to provide the minimum standards of fail trial guarantees as codified by the Fourth Geneva Conventions, and these violations against prisoners and detainees may constitute crimes of war.