Ahmad Manasra, 23, was released after completing a sentence of nine and a half, said the lawyer.
A Palestinian who was arrested at the age of 13 for allegedly participated in a stab attack was released after spending more than nine years in prison, where he has developed serious mental health problems, but was repeatedly refused the requests for early release.
Ahmad Manasra, now 23, was released Thursday after completing his nine and a half sentence, said his lawyer Khaled Zabarqa.
The manasra, of occupation of East Jerusalem, was sentenced for having been present with his cousin Hassan Manasra, who stabbed two Israelis near the illegal Ze’ev Pisgat colony in East Jerusalem in 2015.
Hassan, who was 15 years old at the time, was shot dead by an Israeli man, while Hmad was seriously beaten by a group of Israelis and overturned by an Israeli driver, suffering from fractures of his skull and internal bleeding. A graphic video of Ahmad lying in the street, bleeding from the head while the Israelis taunt him, collected millions of views at the time.
Ahmad was accused of attempted murder even if he has stabbed anyone – something that the courts had recognized.
The authorities moved the Manasra for the first time to isolation in November 2021, following a fight with another detainee. In the interviews of the following year, his family and lawyers said he was locked in a small cell for 23 hours a day and suffered from paranoia and delusions that prevented him from sleeping. His lawyer said Manasra had tried to hurt herself.
His family said that he had been transferred to the psychiatric wing of another prison every few months, where doctors gave him injections to stabilize him.
In December 2021, an external doctor was authorized to visit Ahmad for the first time since his imprisonment. The doctor of Doctors within Borders (Medecins Without Borders, or MSF) published a medical report indicating that Hmad suffers from schizophrenia.
He warned at the time that pursuing imprisonment could lead to permanent damage to his mental health.
‘Huge relief’
The release of Ahmad comes after many local and international bodies, including the European Union And The United Nations have repeatedly called for its immediate release.
Calls to the Supreme Court of Israel for his early release have been rejected several times. The courts judged that he was not eligible, whatever his age or his mental state, because he was found guilty of “terrorism”.
Between the conviction and the conviction of Ahmad, Israeli law has been modified to allow the civil courts to condemn children to 12 years for the so-called “terrorist offenses”.
Zabarqa said the Israeli penitentiary authorities released Ahmad “far from Nafha’s prison (establishment) to prevent his family from receiving him, leaving him alone in an empty zone”.
A passer -by found Ahmad in the Beersheba region in the Southern Negev region and contacted his family, who gathered it later, said Zabarqa.
He confirmed that Humad had found his parents.
“We know that in prison, he was very sick. We are waiting to know more about his health situation now,” said Zabarqa.
The regional director of Amnesty International, Heba Morayef, praised his release, saying that it is a “huge relief for him and his family”.
“Nothing can cancel the years of injustice, abuse, trauma and ill -treatment that he endured behind bars,” Morayef said in a statement.
