OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)
The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) has deported two foreign activists who had been kidnaped recently from a Gaza-bound flotilla in international waters.
Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national of Palestinian origin, and Brazilian Thiago Avila were among dozens of activists sailing with the Global Sumud Flotilla when it was intercepted by the Israeli navy off the coast of the Greek island of Crete on April 30.
While all other flotilla participants were taken to Crete and released, these two activists were transferred by Israeli forces to Israel for interrogation.”
The Israeli foreign ministry announced that Abu Keshek and Avila were deported from Israel on Sunday after an investigation.
Hadeel Abu Salih, a lawyer for the Adalah rights group who co-represented the activists, said their detention “was a sham proceeding with no legal basis, intended to punish them for attempting to challenge Israel’s illegal blockade on Gaza.”
She said the pair’s transfer to Israeli custody was “a clear violation of international law” and that they had been subjected to ill-treatment while in custody.
During their week-long detention in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, Adalah affirmed the two men had been subjected to “psychological abuse,” including prolonged interrogations, constant bright lighting in their cells, complete isolation, and transfers while blindfolded, even during medical examinations.
After they were taken from the flotilla to Israel, the two men’s detention was extended for a further six days last Tuesday, with an appeal filed by their lawyers rejected the following day.
The two men had been on hunger strike since the beginning of their detention, with Abu Keshek also refusing water from 5 May, Adalah said.
Brazil, Spain and the UN had demanded their release and also called their detention unlawful.
