‘Israeli court postpones verdict in trial of youngest Jordanian prisoner’

AMMAN — An Israeli military court on Tuesday adjourned the issuance of a verdict in the trial of Jordanian prisoner Mohammad Suleiman to October 27, according to a family member.

“The verdict was adjourned for the court to continue preparations for the trial procedures,” Mahdi, Mohammad’s father, told The Jordan Times.

Mohammad, the youngest Jordanian prisoner in Israel, may be sentenced to 15 years in prison in addition to a fine of 40,000 Israeli shekels (some JD7,350), his 58-year-old father said recently.

The teenager was 16 years old when he was arrested in March 2013 while visiting his relatives in the West Bank, and has attended around 60 hearings so far. 

He faces 27 charges, including attempted murder and injuring 18 Israeli soldiers.

Mahdi also noted that his son undergoes “severe forms of punishment” at Israeli prisons, including being put in solitary confinement for long times without clear reasons.

“A human rights office in Lebanon filed a lawsuit some two months ago in the UN against Israel for its inhumane practices against Mohammad,” the father said, noting that such efforts should be exerted by local institutions.