Palestinian journalist Abed Abou Shhadeh freed after five days in detention amid accusations of intimidation
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Israeli authorities released Palestinian journalist Abed Abou Shhadeh after five days in custody, during which he and his lawyers said the detention was meant to intimidate Arab citizens and criminalise political speech.
Israeli security officials released Palestinian journalist Abed Abou Shhadeh on Sunday after holding him for five days without charge, a move his supporters condemned as part of a broader pattern of repression. The journalist said his detention was part of "political measures" aimed at intimidating Arab society as a whole.
Abou Shhadeh had been held in a Shin Bet intelligence facility in Petah Tikva after being detained on suspicion of "contact with a foreign agent" and alleged receipt of foreign funding to support Arab voters in Israel, according to the legal-rights group Adalah, which is part of his defence team.
"In my view, the most appropriate response is to reaffirm among ourselves that we are on the right side, that our path is the path of truth," he said, adding that he would continue his work as a journalist.
His legal counsel, Hadeel Abu Salih of Adalah, said the police had no evidence and that the suspicion stemmed from a public conversation Abou Shhadeh had with Palestinian intellectual Azmi Bishara in Qatar. Abu Salih argued that the case criminalised Palestinians for discussing political issues and that authorities attempted to portray him as a political adviser rather than a journalist.
According to Adalah founder Hassan Jabareen, the five-day detention was part of a broader campaign against the voting rights of Arab and Palestinian citizens in Israel, aimed at delegitimising their political participation.
The raid on Abou Shhadeh's home in Jaffa involved about 15 security officers, who confiscated electronic devices and books in the presence of his two children.