Israeli court decided Friday morning to extend the arrest of Arab member of the Knesset Basel Ghattas until Monday on suspicion of phone smuggling to Palestinian prisoners.
Ghattas was brought to court this morning after being arrested last night over allegations that he smuggled cell phones to Palestinian prisoners last Sunday.
Israeli police on Tuesday questioned Ghattas regarding allegations that he had smuggled cell phones to Palestinian prisoners held in Israel’s Ktzi’ot prison.
Police also slapped Ghattas with a travel ban until investigations are concluded.
Ghattas agreed to surrender his parliamentary immunity on Thursday so that he might be investigated by Israeli police over the allegations.
Dozens of the Democratic Party’s supporters have gathered since the morning hours outside the court in solidarity with Ghattas.
Several lawyers have also attended the court session to defend Ghattas.
The Democratic Party countered by saying the accusations against its member Ghattas were aimed at undermining Arab political leadership in Israel.
“This is an attempt to break the backbone of the Arabs and their political progress in this country” the party declared in a statement.
