Verdict against youngest Jordanian prisoner in Israel expected Tuesday

AMMAN — The family of the youngest Jordanian prisoner in Israel, Mohammad Suleiman, expects a verdict by an Israeli military court to be released next Tuesday. 

Mahdi Suleiman, the father of now 18-year-old prisoner, told The Jordan Times recently that a trial before a military court in Israel is scheduled to start Tuesday to issue a verdict against his son, adding that Mohammad may be sentenced to 15 years in jail in addition to a fine of 40,000 Israeli shekels (some JD7,350). 

Mohammad 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, the father said.

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

“This is the expected scenario based on an agreement that was reached between my son’s lawyer and prosecutors,” Suleiman said.

He said that the Foreign Ministry has visited Mohammad only once during his detention period.

“The foreign minister and Jordanian ambassador in Tel Aviv do not perform their duties towards Jordanian prisoners in Israeli jails,” the father charged.

However, the ministry’s spokesperson, Sabah Al Rafie, said the ministry, through the embassy in Tel Aviv, has been following up on the conditions of all Jordanian prisoners in Israel, and Mohammad’s case in particular. 

Mahdi appealed to the Foreign Ministry to facilitate a visit to attend Tuesday’s session. 

On June 14, Mahdi started a hunger strike near the Foreign Ministry, calling for arranging a visit to his son and ended the move five days later after the ministry succeeded in securing him a visa. 

The 58-year-old father visited his son in Megiddo Prison in Haifa where he spent around 45 minutes with him across a glass barrier, although he was expecting a two-hour visit with direct contact with the son, Suleiman has said previously.