The Israeli occupation continues to arrest 12 Palestinian journalists in its prisons, the oldest of whom is the prisoner Mahmoud Issa from Jerusalem, and is sentenced to three life sentences and 46 years.
In a statement issued on Sunday, on the eve of World Press Freedom Day, which falls on the third of May, and approved by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993, Al-Asir Club said that the occupation authorities are pursuing a policy of arresting journalists and activists in an attempt to undermine their societal, cultural and political role and prevent them from Detecting the crimes of the occupation, as they pursue them either through repeated arrest, detention, or assaulting them during their work.
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirmed that “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and this right includes his freedom to hold opinions without harassment, and to seek, receive, and impart news and ideas to others, by any means and without regard to borders.”
The captive club added that journalists, along with thousands of their fellow prisoners, are facing great fears of the spread of the Corona virus, and what increases their suffering, the continuation of the occupation measures since March, which was to stop the visits of lawyers and their families, which put the prisoners in additional isolation, It hindered the work of human rights organizations in following up detainees´ affairs.
Among the most prominent journalists sentenced to high sentences in the occupation prisons, in addition to the prisoner Mahmoud Issa; the prisoner Bassem Khandakji, who is sentenced to three life sentences, the prisoner Ahmed Al-Saifi, who has been imprisoned for 17 years, and the prisoner Munther Mefleh, who has been imprisoned for 30 years.
The occupation authorities used the systematic administrative detention policy to pursue journalists and opinion writers, in an attempt to confiscate freedom of opinion and expression, under the so-called "secret file", including the journalist prisoner Bushra Al-Tawil, who was subjected to administrative detention more than once, the last of which was in December Last year, she remains in detention.
In 2019, journalist Mays Abu Ghosh, from Qalandia, was subjected to severe torture in the "Al-Maskoubia" investigation center, which lasted for more than a month. During this period, he was denied access to a lawyer throughout the investigation, and the torture methods were: sleep deprivation, a ghost around the clock Resorting to the so-called "military" investigation, using "banana" and "squatting" methods, and putting pressure on the families of the detainees.
Al-Asir Club pointed out that, since last year, the occupation targeted in particular journalists in Jerusalem, and prevented the Palestine TV crew from working, or communicating with each other, and also called a number of them to investigate several times, and continues to pursue them until today.
It is noteworthy that the arrest of journalists has increased since late 2015, which coincided with the outbreak of the popular gift, in addition to the arrest of hundreds of citizens under the so-called "incitement" on social media, and these arrests affected journalists, students, academics, and activists, and companies were also exposed Broadcasting, broadcasting and headquarters of satellite channels during the past few years, to the closure by the occupation of military orders, accompanied by sabotage and confiscation, and some media were closed as a result, and a number of journalists lost their jobs.
