Almost two weeks after an Israeli court sentenced a Palestinian 12-year-old girl to prison, her parents are still not allowed to visit her.
On Feb. 18, an Israel's military court sentenced Dima al-Wawi to four and a half months in prison, making her the youngest inmate in Israel, where the age of criminal responsibility starts at 12.
With no criminal record, she was charged with attempted voluntary murder for carrying a knife.
Youngest Palestinian in Israeli prisons, 12-year-old Dima al-Wawi. She was sentenced to a 4 months and a fine. pic.twitter.com/qq2MoSNk8V
— Belal Dabour - Gaza (@Belalmd12) 18 février 2016
The girl was arrested in her school uniform close to the settlement of Karmei Tzur, a couple of kilometers from her school, carrying a knife. She is from the West Bank town of Halhoul, near Hebron,
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According to her parents, the girl apparently felt devastated because of “the deteriorating condition of Mohammed al-Qiq, the imprisoned Palestinian journalist who is on a hunger strike,” reported Tel-Aviv newspaper Haaretz.
The day before she was caught with the knife, she asked her parents what would become of al-Qiq's children if he were to die in prison.
Dima al-Wawi, just 12, kidnapped and sent to Israel's military dungeons for 4 months https://t.co/WPVdwrSYVp pic.twitter.com/Kf33zVhYbE
— Thalwen (@Thalwen) 22 février 2016
The girl's plea bargain during the trial was transcribed as such: “The defendant’s final words: I am in the seventh grade. I go to Shahada School. I understand that my defense counsel reached an agreement according to which I will have to serve a prison term of four and a half months. I understand that my parents will pay a fine of 8,000 shekels. In my school we learn arithmetic, English, Arabic and religious studies.”
Meanwhile Dima's father lost his job as a construction worker in Israel after the event, but they will still have to pay the US$2,000 fine. On top of this, they will likely not be allowed to visit the girl before another six to eight weeks, informed the International Red Cross.
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