IPS ordered to clarify position over Al Jazeera journalist
Palestinian-born journalist Samer Allawi arrested on suspicion of Hamas ties; wants his doctor to examine him in jail.
By JOANNA PARASZCZUKSamer Allawi, Al Jazeera journalist_311(photo credit: Facebook Page)
The Haifa District Court ordered the Israel Prison Service on Sunday to file a written response no later than Monday regarding a petition over the detention of Al Jazeera journalist Samer Farik Mohammad Allawi.Allawi, the head of Al Jazeera's Kabul bureau in Afghanistan, was arrested on August 9th when he tried to cross into Jordan over the Allenby Bridge. According to Al Jazeera's Jerusalem bureau, the Palestinian born journalist, who heads the Qatar-based news agency's Kabul branch in Afghanistan, was returning from a three-week vacation with his family near Nablus.RELATED:Israel arrests Al Jazeera's Afghanistan bureau chief
Israel suspects Allawi of belonging to Hamas and of carrying out actions against state security.Allawi, who is being held in custody in the Kishon Detention Center after Samaria Military Court ruled that his detention will be extended, had petitioned the Haifa District Court to order the Prison Service to permit his doctors to visit him in prison.In ordering the Prison Service to clarify its position regarding the matter, Judge Ron Shapira noted that although the military court ruled last month that Allawi should be referred for a medical examination, this has not yet happened.Meanwhile, dozens of journalists protested on Saturday in front of the UN offices in Gaza City demanding that Israel release Allawi, AFP reported.
