A
Palestinian man who clicked "Like" on a Facebook status criticising a
Palestinian Authority (PA) official has been sentenced to six months in
prison.
Anas
Ismail, 29, of Salfit, near Nablus, was found guilty of "libel and
slander." Ismail is the second Palestinian to be imprisoned for Facebook
activities in the past few days.
He
was sentenced to prison on the same day another PA court in Bethlehem
sentenced a Palestinian journalist to one year in prison for sharing a
photo on Facebook that compared PA President Mahmoud Abbas to a villain
and spy of French colonial authorities in a Syrian drama.
The
Palestinian Authority police on Friday night released another
Palestinian, Mamdouh Hamamreh from prison, one day after he had been
sentenced to one year in prison for insulting PA President Mahmoud Abbas
on Facebook.
On
Thursday, a PA court in Bethlehem upheld a one-year prison sentence
imposed earlier on Hamamreh after convicting him of publishing a photo
on Facebook comparing Abbas to a villain and traitor who appeared in a
popular Syrian TV production.
Hamamreh was the second Palestinian to be imprisoned for insulting Abbas on Facebook since the beginning of this year.
In
February, a PA court in Nablus sentenced 26-year-old Anas Awwad, a
university student, to one year in prison for positing a photo depicting
Abbas as a Real Madrid player. Awwad too was later pardoned by Abbas.
Earlier
this year, Ayman Samarah, 40, of Jenin, was found dead in his prison
cell after PA security forces prevented Palestinian journalists from
covering the case.
The treatment of prisoners in Palestinian prisons is becoming increasingly concerning to human rights activists.
The
mother of Karim Shaheen, who is being held in Jericho Prison, said that
her son has been hospitalised after suffering from paralysis in in his
left arm as a result of torture.
The
family of another detainee, Baha Zahdeh, also accused the PA security
forces of torturing their son, who is being held in the same prison on
suspicion of membership in Hamas.
The Palestinian Authority is however, renowed for paying salaries to convicted terrorists serving time in Israeli prisons.
Norwegian
authorities recently expressed their concern over the financial support
for the Palestinian Authority and where the money given in aid is
going.
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