Prisoner al-Arida exposed to harsh conditions in solitary confinement
Al Mayadeen has been informed that Palestinian prisoner Mohammed al-Arida of Freedom Tunnel has been suffering in solitary confinement.
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Protesters lift a placard depicting the six Palestinian prisoners who broke out from the Gilboa prison through Operation Freedom Tunnel as they demonstrate to support them in Al-Nasira, occupied Palestine, 11 September 2021 (AFP)
Palestinian Prisoner Mohammed al-Arida, one of the heroes of Operation Freedom Tunnel, which saw six Palestinian prisoners reclaiming their freedom from the Israeli occupation's prisons, has been suffering under severe measures taken against him while in solitary confinement at the occupation's "Ramon" Prison, sources familiar with the matter told Al Mayadeen on Wednesday.
The Israeli prisons' administration is aiming to isolate the Palestinian prisoner from everything going on around him by revoking his visitation rights illegally, as he is transferred during visitation hours or his parents are banned from visiting him under the pretext that they pose a security threat, the sources added.
Furthermore, they underlined that the Israeli occupation "prevents prisoner al-Arida from writing and confiscates all his belongings, including pens and papers, to prevent him from writing any message and thoroughly search his cell on a daily basis."
He is prohibited from making contact with any other prisoner, it was revealed to Al Mayadeen. Al-Arida has presented complaints to the occupation's prison authority, but his complaints went unanswered.
On September 6, 2021, al-Arida was one of six prisoners who broke out of Gilboa Prison in a heroic operation that shook the Israeli occupation's trust in its security system to the core.
The Israeli occupation court in Al-Nasirah issued a sentence of 5 years and 8 months of imprisonment and a fine against 5 of the Freedom Tunnel prisoners, in addition to four years of imprisonment against the other prisoners who provided assistance to the Freedom Tunnel prisoners.
The Freedom Tunnel prisoners are Mahmoud al-Arida, Zakaria al-Zubaidi, Yaqoub Qadri, Mohammed al-Arida, Ayham Kamamji, and Munadel Nafi'at.
The Muhjat al-Quds Foundation said in January that the Israeli Prison Service has detained 4 prisoners who partook in the heroic act of aiding the prisoners of the Freedom Tunnel and took them to different prison facilities.
The detained prisoners are Kosai Rabih Mohamad Merhi and Ali Mohamad Nazmi Abu Bakir who were taken from isolation in "Megiddo Prison" to "Ayalon Prison"; Iyad Ibrahim Hasan Jradat who was transferred from "Megiddo Prison" to "Rimonim Prison"; and Mohamad Mahmoud Nazmi Abu Bakir who was transferred from Megiddo prison to isolation in "Ramon" prison.
