Palestinian civil society briefs IFJ General Secretary on situation of journalists detained in Israel

Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association along with Palestinian civil society organizations today briefed the General- Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Anthony Bellanger, on the conditions of journalists detained in the Israeli occupation's prisons and demanded pressure for their release. In the meeting held at the headquarters of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate in Ramallah, the Palestinian organizations told the IFJ General Secretary that approximately 46 journalists are currently held in occupation prisons, 29 of whom were arrested after the 7th of October. The occupying authorities launched widespread arrest campaigns that targeted various sectors of the Palestinian population, resulting in the detention of over 3130 Palestinians, including 40 journalists. Eleven of them have been released, while 29 remain in detention. The General Secretary was also briefed on the case of the journalist Sumayya Jawabreh, 30, who was arrested while seven months pregnan t on charges of incitement on social media. Later, she was released under harsh and retaliatory conditions, including a bail of 10,000 shekels (app. $2700), indefinite house arrest, and a ban on using any social media platforms. Addameer highlighted the situation of a Palestinian journalist who was detained as a hostage until her husband surrenders himself to the occupation authorities and said that most of the journalists arrested after the 7th of October were subjected to administrative detention orders, which means they are arbitrarily detained without charge, trial and indefinitely, based on a secret file inaccessible to the detainee or their lawyer. As for the remaining journalists, they face charges related to incitement on social media, which violates their fundamental rights to freedom of opinion, expression, and journalistic work, it said. At the end of the meeting, the civil society organizations urged the General- Secretary to issue a clear and public stance against the arbitrary detention of Pa lestinian journalists, constituting a war crime. Additionally, Addameer demanded the General Secretary to put pressure on the occupying authorities to release all Palestinian journalists held in its prisons. Source: Palestine news and Information Agency – WAFA