The Palestinian prisoner Abdullah al-Barghouti 46 who has the highest prison sentence in the world started his 16th year in Israeli jails.
Spokesman for the Palestinian Prisoners Center for Studies Riyad al-Ashqar said that al-Barghouti has been detained since 5th March 2003 after being kidnapped by Israeli special units in front of a Ramallah hospital where he was taking his little daughter for treatment. The girl was left in the street alone.
Al-Barghouti was subjected to violent torture for six months as he was accused of being responsible for many resistance operations that killed dozens of Israeli settlers and soldiers.
Since his arrest he had been held in solitary confinement at Ohlikdar jail. In 2012 al-Barghouti succeeded along with other prisoners to force the Israel Prison Service to move the isolated prisoners out of solitary confinement after waging a 28-day hunger strike.
Al-Ashqar said that al-Barghouti is subject to the highest penalty in the world which is 67 life sentences. Israel refused to release him in the 2011 Wafa al-Ahrar prisoner swap deal. Based on the 109-term indictment filed against him by Israeli courts al-Barghouti was charged with being responsible for many anti-occupation attacks in which 66 Israelis were killed and 500 injured.
Al-Barghouti went on an open hunger strike for more than 100 days in 2014 with a number of Jordanian prisoners in Israeli jails to demand better detention conditions and regular family visits. He currently suffers from some health problems resulting from that strike.
The Palestinian prisoner was exposed to many punitive measures by the Israel Prison Service including arbitrary transfers isolations and restrictions on family visits. His children’s visit for example was reduced to 20 minutes instead of 45 under the pretext that they brought some books to their father.
Al-Barghouti was able to write several books in prison including “The Prince of Shadow” in which he talked about his life and struggle against the Israeli occupation in details. The book has been widely requested by readers due its exciting stories and narrative style.
