Ramallah- 10/8/2015- The judge at Ofer Military Court decided to postpone the hearing of the Palestinian Legislative Council’s member (PLC) and Addameer’s vice-chairperson, Khalida Jarrar, to the 24th of August 2015 as witnesses who were expected to take the stand did not show up for the court hearing for the third time in a row. According to the Legal Unit Director at Addameer, Adv. Mahmoud Hassan, a second military judge further rejected the  request to release Mrs. Jarrar on bail which  was filed by Addameer  last week, hence, Mrs. Jarrar will remain in detention until the end of the court procedures.

Adv. Hassan added that the defense protested the prosecution’s failure to bring the witnesses to court in order to complete Mrs. Jarrar’s court proceedings. The prosecution’s failure is unjustifiable extending Mrs. Jarrar’s detention and causing suffering to her and her family members in addition to the fact that it is violating Mrs. Jarrar’s right to a fair trial.

Addameer percevives the court’s decision today to keep Mrs. Jarrar in detaintion until the end of the legal proceedings as a blow to the principle of innocence until  proven guilty. The norm is usually that the accused are allowed to remain free until the court proceedings came to an end, whereas the opposite is applied in the case of Mrs. Jarrar and the case of thousands of Palestinian prisoners and detainees who go through the Israeli military jurisdiction. The basic principles of fair trials guaranteed by the international human rights law and the international humanitarian law are not respected and is thus a grave violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Therefore, Addameer demands the immediate release of PLC member Khalida Jarrar.