A Palestinian political prisoner dies and the world media is silent

The media in Malta is still mentioning the fact that there had been suicides at our prison when Alex Dalli was director. There are still commentators boasting about their courageous stand to have had Dalli removed. However, they are not saying that after Dalli left, the prison is again returning to the old habits.

However, the death of a Palestinian political prisoner, Khader Adnan, in an Israeli jail after an 87-day hunger strike is not reported. What is of bigger worry is that the world media is silent about the atrocities that are committed in Israel in the name of security.

Israel accused Khader Adnan of being affiliated with the Palestinian militant Islamic Jihad group. Thus he was arrested multiple times. Nevertheless, the issue is not his arrest; the issue here is that he was never charged in court. As a protest, Khader Adnan undertook five hunger strikes since 2004, including a 55-day strike in 2015 to protest against his arrest under so-called administrative detention, in which suspects are held indefinitely without charge or trial.

According to the Palestinian Prisoners Association, Adnan had been detained by Israel 12 times, spending around eight years in prison, mostly under administrative detention.

Israel is holding over 1,000 Palestinian detainees without charge or trial, the highest number since 2003, according to the Israeli human rights group HaMoked. One notices with relief that human rights groups in Israel are voicing their concerns that Palestinians are being detained indefinitely without being charged or put on trial.

Unfortunately, in Malta, there were changes in our criminal code, leading to this type of situation. As a result, we have detainees in Malta that have been taken to court and kept under arrest. However, after the two-year term of arrest has elapsed without being put on trial, they are still being kept in jail by dirty tricks of the attorney general’s office.