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Jerusalem:
10 July , 1997
Gaza
Court Discusses Illegally Arrested Professor
Dr. Fathi Ahmed Subuh, a professor of
Education at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, was arrested by
the PSS on July 2. During this time he has been on and off
hunger strikes for a total of 29 days, was declared a
prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, and
attracted the attention of academics all over the world..
Dr. Subuh is 44 years old and father of five children.
Sources close to the security services have claimed that
Subuh was arrested for security reasons. However, his arrest
followed an exam given to students that asked them for their
opinions about corruption in the PA. Weeks later, the PSS
confiscated the students completed exams.
The Gaza Supreme Court met today to
discuss the charges of Subuh’s lawyer (Raji Sourani) that
the detention was illegal. The court did not reach a verdict
and will meet again on the case in October. According to
Sourani, Subuh was defamed and tortured. Rumors were spread
about collaboration with Israel, while he was pressured to
confess by Shabeh. Subuh had his hands tied behind his back,
and then raised up and tied to a hook in the wall. He was
forced to stand on his toes or suffer excruciating pain, for
hours at a time.
Subuh was questioned how he acquired
a telephone line in 1984, how he was allowed to travel
between Egypt and Gaza in 1984, and on an Israeli flag
burning incident in which he allegedly spoke to the Israeli
authorities after the incident. Subuh was arrested by Israel
23 times before the arrival of the PA.
The court session was held in front
of Radwan Al-Agha (head judge) and two other judges. The
prosecutor was Ahmad Siam. Siam told the court that a
warrant for Subuh’s arrest was issued on July 3 and July 18,
and signed by Attorney General Fayez Abu Rahme. PHRMG
director Bassem Eid visited Abu-Rahme on August 21, and was
told that the case was connected to the President’s office.
He denied having any information on the reasons for Subuh’s
arrest or the charges against him. A letter from Abu-Rahme
presented to the court today claimed that it was impossible
to release him ‘in case he tried to contact the other side
[Israel].’
Another warrant for Subuh’s detention
was issued by the State Security Court (SSC) on August 3.
Subuh’s lawyer was not informed of any session before the
SSC, or of any warrant.
The Palestinian Human Rights
Monitoring Group denounces the arrest, detention, and
torture of Dr. Fathi Subuh. It is apparent that his arrest
and detention are on the orders of the President’s office,
and are meant as a punishment for the questions on the exam
given to his students at university. The judiciary has
proven its lack of independence for the duration of this
case. It appears that numerous officials, possibly including
the Attorney General, the Prosecutor of this case, PSS
officials, and unknown figures in the President’s office are
guilty of illegal arrest, detention, torture, falsification
of official documents and forgery.
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