In a military court hearing today, July 29 Nabil Al-Raee, The Freedom Theatre’s Artistic Director, pleaded guilty to amended charges of assisting Zakaria Zubeidi (one of the co-founders of The Freedom Theatre) in 2010 with food, cigarettes and car drives, and once answering Zakaria’s question about presence of the Israeli army in the camp.
As insisted by Nabil’s lawyer it is written in the charge sheet that Zakaria was not wanted by the Israeli army at the time, since he was granted amnesty in 2007.
Thus Nabil pleaded guilty to assisting a previously wanted person.
The sentence was the time that Nabil served in detention plus a 3,000 shekel fine, suspended imprisonment of four months for one year. This means that if Nabil is caught with the same alleged offense in the next year, the Israeli authorities can activate the suspended term.
– Right now I’m relieved that it’s over, says Nabil. I’m happy to finally be able to go back to normal life with my family and to continue the work of The Freedom Theatre.
The Freedom Theatre shares Nabil’s relief and gratitude towards the many thousands of people around the world who made e-mails, calls, signed petitions and otherwise engaged in Nabil’s case.
– We are extremely relieved that this kafkaesque farce is over and that we can return to work. At the same time our thoughts go out to the thousands of Palestinian political prisoners that remain in Israeli prisons away from their loved ones, says Jonatan Stanczak, Managing Director at The Freedom Theatre.
The struggle for Zakaria Zubeidi’s freedom continues. In a recent statement Human Rights Watch brings forward concerns that Zakaria has experienced severe mistreatment while held in the Palestinian Authority’s Preventive Security detention facility in Jericho (read the full statement here http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/07/27/israelpalestinian-authority-theater-group-hit-both-sides).
For more information:
Nabil Al-Raee, Artistic Director of The Freedom Theatre, nabeel@thefreedomtheatre.org, +972(0)599968673
Jonatan Stanczak, Managing Director of The Freedom Theatre, jonatan@thefreedomtheatre.org, +972(0)599017654