RAMALLAH (PIC)– The Israeli military court in Ofer jail west of Ramallah city has decided to release Dr. Nasser Al-Dein Al-Shaer the education minister in the dissolved PA unity government on Tuesday after 52 days of illegal detention.
Osama Al-Sa’adi the counsel of Shaer affirmed that the court’s decision was made after reasons behind Shaer’s detention became irrelevant as he is no longer a minister in the PA unity government nor is he a lawmaker from Hamas.
The court had earlier ruled to place Shaer under six-month administrative detention but it annulled the verdict after his detention became unjustified in the court’s view said Sa’adi.
Shaer was rounded up along with 135 of Hamas’s cadres and political leaders in the West Bank along with his colleague Wasfi Kabaha the state minister in the dissolved PA unity government. Kabaha is retained in the jail.
Shaer is expected to be released along with mayor of Badia town in the West Bank district of Salfit who was also kidnapped with Shaer the lawyer affirmed.
Meanwhile the Youth and Sports minister in the legitimate PA caretaker government Dr. Basim Na’im who also handles both the health and prisoners’ ministries in addition to his work warned that the Israeli occupation government was trying to drive a wedge among the Palestinian prisoners in its jails.
In a speech he delivered during pro-prisoners rally in Gaza city Monday Na’im accused the IOA of deliberately dealing with the Palestinian prisoners in its jails based on their political affiliations.
He said the Israeli step was meant to deepen the political rift among the Palestinians which started with the unconstitutional and hasty edicts of PA chief Mahmoud Abbas last month.
But he welcomed the release of any Palestinian prisoner regardless of his political affiliation and gender yet he warned that his government will not allow Israel to decide whom to release and whom to retain in jail among the Palestinian captives.
“The issue of the prisoners was and will remain on top of the PA government’s political agenda and priorities being a central issue and thus we will not allow anyone to tamper with or exploit it for political advances” the minister underlined.
He also assured families of the Palestinian captives of his government’s full support with all possible means underscoring “We will not spare any chance to alleviate the agony of the captives and their families with all means possible”.
The Israeli occupation government had earlier decided to release 250 Palestinian captives all from Fatah faction out of 12000 prisoners languishing in its jails in a bid to strengthen Abbas’s stand against Hamas Movement.
