(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is deeply concern about the ongoing detention of Sheikh Abdullah al-Shami, a school teacher from the Gaza Strip and a contributor to the Islamist weekly “Al-Istiqlal”. On the afternoon of 18 August 1998, al-Shami was detained without warrant at his home in al-Shujaeyyah by a group of officers from the Palestinian Authority’s […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is deeply concern about the ongoing detention of Sheikh
Abdullah al-Shami, a school teacher from the Gaza Strip and a contributor to
the Islamist weekly “Al-Istiqlal”.
On the afternoon of 18 August 1998, al-Shami was detained without warrant at
his home in al-Shujaeyyah by a group of officers from the Palestinian
Authority’s Criminal Investigation Unit. The detention followed the
publication
of an article in the 14 August 1998 edition of “Al-Istiqlal” titled “Change
of
Ministers or Persistence of Sin,” in which al-Shami described what he called
“the growing resentment in the street toward those ministers portrayed as
the
symbols of financial and administrative corruption in the newly formed
cabinet
of ministers.” According to local human rights activists, al-Shami has been
denied access to an attorney in addition to visits from family members. His
current whereabouts are unknown.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
recognized right to freedom of expression
unless
it can be credibly demonstrated that he has committed a recognizable
criminal offense under international law
Appeals To
His Excellency Yasser Arafat
President
Palestinian National Authority
Gaza City, Gaza
Fax: +972 7 2873 744
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
