Seventeen Year Old Child Taken in Night Raid on Bi’ilin Now Facing Jail Time

Bil’in was subjected to yet another Israeli Occupation Forces night raid when an unusually heavy number of Israeli soldiers entered the outskirts of the village to arrest a local youth; 17 year old Ahmad Abed Al-Fatah Burnat – who unfortunately was arrested.

Ahmad was taken by jeep to Ofer military prison located outside Ramallah, where arrestees from Bil’in are normally taken. His family witnessed their son and brother being taken away without knowing why. There is still uncertainty why the Israeli army came in 12 jeeps and stormed the family’s house kidnapping the 17 year old that night.

Ahmad has now been held for seven days in Ofer. What we know from experience is that the prisoners in Ofer, especially young boys are put under harsh conditions, with the intention of pressuring them to give information about other villagers. We know that many are denied food and water for extended periods of time and exposed to extreme cold or heat. This coupled with the uncertainty of when he is to be released makes the situation unbearable for his family. All this is done to make the prisoners confess false charges, or to falsely confess that they have witnessed other people i.e. throwing stones.

Today Ahmad was brought in front of a judge. The court’s decision is that the military has to bring evidence of any crime committed by Ahmad, which they haven’t been able to do so far. If none is presented within 37 hours from today’s court, Ahmad is to be released. The condition is that there must be paid a bail of 10,000 shekel. If this isn’t paid, Ahmad will remain in Ofer military prison indefinitely, while waiting for the next court decision.

The popular committee has seen hundreds of Bil’in residents being arrested over the years, and have been forced to pay a total of more than 300,000 NIS for bail. In addition, the costs for the trials are estimated to lie at around 2,800 NIS per person, per court appearance.

Notes/Sources:

The above article was written by Stephen Lendman; entitled: “Gazans Denied Medical Care Under Siege”