Prominent Palestinian prisoner crushed unconscious by jail guards, his son tells NCS
Prominent Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti was allegedly crushed unconscious by jail guards final month whereas being transferred between detention facilities, his son has instructed NCS, citing accounts from Palestinian detainees freed as a part of a ceasefire settlement with Israel.
Speaking to NCS’s Christiane Amanpour, Arab Barghouti claimed his father was attacked by eight guards on September 14, and he condemned Western governments for his or her “silence” on his father’s remedy.
The Israel Prison Service has denied the allegations in an announcement supplied to Israeli and worldwide media, calling them “false claims” and stating that the service operates in accordance with the regulation.
The 66-year-old, former West Bank chief of the Fatah party, was incarcerated in 2002 for planning assaults that killed 5 civilians throughout the Second Palestinian Intifada, or rebellion, and is serving 5 life sentences in an Israeli jail. He denied the fees on the time and rejected the jurisdiction of the court docket.
Barghouti is taken into account the preferred political determine within the occupied Palestinian territories and is seen by many because the chief greatest positioned to unite Palestinians.
His identify had been on the high of an inventory of high-profile detainees that Hamas had been in search of the discharge of as a part of a ceasefire settlement – a request that Israel refused to think about.
Arab Barghouti stated his father was being transferred from Ganot jail to Megiddo jail – a routine switch that he stated occurs each few months – when the alleged violence occurred.
Stopping on the way in which, eight totally different guards allegedly handcuffed Barghouti and started attacking him.
He arrived at Megiddo jail unconscious, his son alleged, citing proof given by former Palestinian detainees.
“He was bleeding and he was bruised. … It took him hours to regain consciousness and days and weeks to recover from that,” Arab Barghouti stated.
Barghouti’s standing as a possible Palestinian leader-in-waiting has made him a selected goal for right-wing Israeli politicians.
Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who’s in control of Israel’s jail system, denies claims of Barghouti’s mistreatment.
In August, a brief clip emerged exhibiting Ben Gvir addressing a gaunt-looking Barghouti in his cell, telling him, “You will not win. Whoever will mess with the people of Israel, whoever will murder our kids, whoever will murder women, we will erase them.” The video was the primary time Barghouti had been seen publicly in years.
Amanpour’s full interview is scheduled to air Friday on NCS.
NCS’s Ana Bickford contributed reporting.