Hunger striker Muhammad al-Qiq held in ’grave-like’ prison cell, lawyer says
Feb. 19, 2017 5:22 P.M. (Updated: Feb. 19, 2017 5:26 P.M.)
▻http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=775549
HEBRON (Ma’an) — Imprisoned Palestinian journalist Muhammad al-Qiq, who has been on hunger strike for two weeks, has been held by Israel in a “grave-like” prison cell, his lawyer said on Sunday.
Al-Qiq, who lives in Ramallah and is originally from Dura in the southern occupied West Bank district of Hebron, was released from prison in May last year after having gone without food for a grueling 94 days — to protest his administrative detention at the time.
However, al-Qiq was redetained in mid-January after he participated in a protest in the West Bank city of Bethlehem demanding the release of bodies of slain Palestinians held in Israeli custody, and once again placed under administrative detention — internment without trial or charges.
Al-Qiq’s lawyer, Khalid Zabarqa, told Ma’an that he was finally allowed to visit al-Qiq on Sunday, after awaiting a response from Israeli intelligence for ten days to grant him access to the detainee at the Kishon detention center in northern Israel.
“Al-Qiq is held in a small cell measuring barely four square meters and lacking the minimum basic living requirements,” Zabarqa said, adding that the Israel Prison Service (IPS) had “refused to provide al-Qiq with winter clothes and sheets, leaving him unable to sleep due to low temperatures.”
He added that al-Qiq was also suffering from dizziness, loss of balance, and back pain.