Palestinian journalist, Omar Nazzal was released yesterday, 20 February 2017, after 10 months imprisonment without charge or trial under administrative detention. Occupation forces arrested the journalist Omar Nazzal, a member of the General Secretariat of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, and president of the Democratic Journalists Union on  23 April 2016, from the Allenby Bridge while en route to participation in the European Federation of Journalists General Meeting. 

Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association condemns the continued and systematic targeting and arrests of journalists, including Mr. Nazzal, in contravention with the internationally codified freedom of expression and of movement. Journalists continue to be targeted for practicing their professions and reporting and investigating human rights violations in occupied Palestine.

Administrative detention orders are issued either at the time of arrest or at some later date and are often based on “secret information” collected by the Israeli Security Agency. Neither the detainee nor his lawyer is ever informed of the reasons for the detention or given access to the “secret information”.