Israeli court decides to keep Palestinian speaker in jail

Gaza, March 25: An Israeli military court on Wednesday decided to keep Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) Aziz Dweik jailed until May 17.

The PLC, the inoperative parliament of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), said in a press statement that keeping its speaker in prison and bringing him 17 times to court without trial "is concocted and comic", Xinhua news agency reported.

"Keeping the head of the Palestinian legislature jailed without trial in an Israeli military court is illegal, and he should be released immediately," the statement said.

The PLC statement called on the world's parliaments as well as rights groups to intervene immediately to secure the release of Dweik who is ill.

Dweik was arrested on June 16 from his home in the southern West Bank city of Hebron.

He is the Speaker of the inoperative PNA parliament, and a senior Hamas leader.

IANS