Occupied Jerusalem -

The attention of all sympathizers with the case of the prisoner Ahmed Manasra is directed towards the session of the Central Court in Beersheba today, Wednesday, which will consider the appeal submitted before it for his early release after he has served two-thirds of his sentence.

The court sentenced the boy, Manasra, to 12 years in prison, later reduced to 9 and a half, after he was convicted of trying to kill two settlers and possessing a knife on October 12, 2015.

Al-Maqdisi Ahmed Manasra was born on January 22, 2002 in Beit Hanina, Jerusalem. The investigator said, "I don't remember" (I don't remember).

Khaled, uncle of the prisoner, Ahmed Manasra, said that a doctor assured the family that Ahmed suffers from a complex psychological condition that needs intensive treatment (Al-Jazeera)

Khaled Manasra, uncle of the boy Ahmed, said that his brother’s son has been in solitary confinement in Eshel Prison in Beersheba for five months, and that the family managed to get a psychiatrist to visit Ahmed after a long struggle, who confirmed in turn that he suffers from a complex psychological condition that needs intensive treatment.

"Doctors, psychologists and social workers assured us that the worst thing that the prison administration could do to Ahmed Manasra is to put him in solitary confinement, because this would aggravate his condition and might make it permanent and further complicate it."

Regarding the electronic campaign that was launched a month ago with the aim of advocating and pressing for the release of Ahmed Manasra, Khaled said that it greatly supports the family psychologically, but he is not sure that it will affect the Israeli judiciary.

The Global Palestinian Network for Mental Health launched on March 12 a global campaign for the release of Ahmed Manasra, who was imprisoned as a child and as a young man whose movement, ambition and dreams are restricted by the ugliness of his narrow solitary cell.

Intensify interaction with the campaign

"It is necessary to intensify interaction with the campaign through the media and social platforms in the last hours leading up to the court session," says Bilal Odeh, a social worker and member of the campaign for Ahmed Manasra's release.

He added to Al Jazeera Net, "Ahmed is in a situation that poses a threat to his mental health, and it is necessary for him to be released immediately to be in the arms of his parents and family... The journey may be long, but our hope is great to end the suffering of this young man, and our campaign will continue until we see him among us outside the prison walls." ".

Bilal Odeh: Ahmed Manasra is in a situation that threatens his mental health and it is necessary to release him immediately (Al-Jazeera)

Regarding what could result from the court session that will be held in a few hours, the Jerusalemite social worker stressed that it is not possible to rely on the Israeli courts, but the judiciary is one of the doors that can be knocked, and the electronic campaign is an aid to pressure him.

Odeh deals with the difficult psychological effects that Ahmed Manasra was subjected to as a result of severe beatings, including a fracture of his skull, which caused a hematoma inside it.

"The psychological and social uprooting that Ahmed was subjected to from the moment of his arrest, assault and brutal interrogation resulted in enormous psychological pressures and challenges, exacerbated by the conditions of solitary confinement."

In conjunction with tweeting several hashtags in the campaign to release Ahmed Manasra, Odeh confirms that the number of signatories to a petition calling for his release exceeded 150,000 people inside and outside Palestine, including researchers, academics and legal figures.

Desperate

Lawyer Khaled Zabarka, who is entrusted with reducing Ahmed Manasra's sentence by one third, said that he met his client several times, the last of which was 3 weeks ago in the isolation ward of Eshel Prison.

He says about Ahmed Manasra’s psychological condition: I saw him as a person without a soul.. I tried to relieve him, so I told him that there was only a little left and that we were working for your release. He replied, “I am only waiting for death.. I am not waiting for anything from this life.” Then he asked me before I I leave "Are you sure that suicide is forbidden?"

Zabarka comments on this by saying that Ahmed arrested a 13-year-old child, and since then his spirit and hope for life have been killed, stressing that the psychiatrist who visited him confirmed his suffering from a chronic mental illness.

Lawyer Khaled Zabarka: The anti-terrorism law applies to adults and may not be applied to a minor such as the prisoner Ahmed Manasra (Al-Jazeera)

Regarding the legal track in this prisoner’s case, Zabarka explains that he submitted a request for his early release, but the committee before which the case was brought refused to refer the file to another committee specialized in the release, as Ahmed was accused of a “terrorism” case, and therefore his case was not discussed, which prompted his lawyer to appeal the decision. .

In the details, Zabarka says, "The anti-terrorism law applies to adults and may not be applied to minors, especially on a child because the legal standards relating to children and minors are different, but the judiciary was determined to deal with Ahmed harshly as standards for dealing with adults, and the exact description of the sentence that was called is a crime against humanity".

Regarding his expectations regarding the ruling that the Beersheba District Court will issue today, Wednesday, the lawyer specializing in Jerusalem cases is likely that the court will reject the appeal submitted by the family, stressing that he will not stop at its decision and will work immediately to file an appeal before the Supreme Court.

"If we look at purely legal considerations, we reach an immediate conclusion that the verdict will be issued in favor of Ahmed Manasra because he spent more than two-thirds of the term and suffers from mental illness, and the legal criteria related to childhood and the suffering he suffered, we reached one conclusion, which is his early release, but my lack of optimism about accepting the appeal stems from From the judicial system’s hostile view of everything that is Palestinian, especially in the tense conditions we are living in today.”

In response to a question: Are you reluctant to visit Ahmed Manasra next if the appeal is rejected?

Lawyer Zabarka is silent and then says after a long sigh: I am not afraid to visit Ahmed, and I will continue to meet him and try to raise his spirits, but what I fear is that we will wake up to sad news from Ahmed one day.