Israeli court refuses early release for Ahmed Manasra

An Israeli court ruled on Tuesday against an early release for Palestinian prisoner Ahmed Manasra, who suffers from severe psychological damage.

Manasra had been arrested in 2015 when he was 13, after being wounded by the Israeli police and was sentenced to 12 years, then decreased to nine, for charges of assisting his cousin in a stabbing attempt against an Israeli in Jerusalem.

He was reported to have suffered psychological damages earlier this year, after reports of his lawyer and examination by Israeli psychologists. He is currently held in the Ramleh clinic prison psychiatric section, where he was transferred two weeks ago following a serious deterioration of his condition.

In April, the Israeli court referred Manasra's case to a special committee to determine whether to maintain the "terrorism" charges against him, the committee ruled in favor of maintaining the "terrorism" charge in June.

Once again, an Israeli occupation court has rejected the early release request of the Palestinian prisoner Ahmad Manasra, ignoring the critical deterioration of his mental health condition due to solitary confinement and harsh conditions inside Israeli jails. pic.twitter.com/gr1Y3ulD1w

— PALESTINE SUNBIRD 🇵🇸 (@SBPal_Eng) June 28, 2022

"On Tuesday, the parole committee was supposed to rule whether the elements necessary for an early release are present," Khaled Zabarqah, Manasra's lawyer told The New Arab on Wednesday.

"We consider them to be," he stressed. "Ahmed has served more than two thirds of his sentence, he was never charged with carrying out any attack himself, and most importantly his psychological health condition is in grave danger and he needs urgent help."

"The committee refused to even discuss an early release of Ahmed, on the grounds that the Israeli court had maintained the "terrorism" aspect of his case," said Zabarqah.

"Based on this position, the Israeli committee refused to grant Ahmed an early release," he added. "The case is far from over for us. We will file an appeal and pursue the case to the end."

Ahmed Manasra was deprived of the most beautiful stages of his life, namely childhood. Ahmed Manasseh has the right to freedom.#FreeAhmedManasra pic.twitter.com/1pN2xfHDfI

— Taleina#BravePalestine (@zeinanab) June 29, 2022

On Tuesday, Yoaad Ghanadry, the head of the Palestinian Mental Health Network, who follows Manasra's case, told The New Arab that Manasra "suffers from the impact of his violent arrest and wound, including a severe blow on his head and delay of medical attention".

"Ahmed's condition was aggravated by the fact of growing with these traumas as a child, into adulthood, in harsh detention conditions, including repeated solitary confinement," Ghanadry added.

Some 450 Palestinian children have been arrested by Israeli forces in 2022 alone. some 170 are still held in Israeli ails.