Thiago Avila and Saif Abukeshek face terrorism allegations as defense argues arrest occurred in international waters.

On Tuesday, an Israeli judge extended the detention of Global Sumud Flotilla activists Thiago Avila of Brazil and Spanish-Palestinian Saif Abukeshek by six days to give Israeli intelligence agencies time to investigate them on terrorism charges.

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The two activists, the only ones among the 175 intercepted by Israeli occupation forces in international waters who were transferred to Israel, have been held since April 30, when they began a hunger strike to protest their arbitrary and illegal arrest.

On Tuesday, Thiago Ávila and Saif Abukeshek appeared for a second time at a court in the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon. During the hearings, they remained locked in a glass cubicle with up to six police officers guarding them.

Abukeshek appeared tired and asked for water during the proceeding, at which point the judge adjourned it. Representatives from the Spanish and Brazilian embassies attended his hearings.

The text reads, “Do you want to hear nonsense? Israel kidnaps a Brazilian in a completely illegal act of piracy on the high seas, 1,000 km from Gaza, tortures him in solitary confinement, tries him in an occupying military tribunal, and everyone considers it normal? Tiago Avila only wanted to break the blockade. And this whole farce of justice for that. Israel, the world’s bandit. Faithless, lawless, shameless. An entity that deserves only one thing: to be dismantled. And its population, deradicalized.”

Defense lawyers argued that the detention was illegal because they are foreign citizens captured in international waters and that Israel lacks jurisdiction to try some of the charges against them.

It is the first time participants in a flotilla headed to the Gaza Strip have been charged with terrorism-related crimes. Activists detained in previous flotillas were only given an immigration administrative file to allow their deportation from Israel.

Although the judge heard the defense’s arguments, he granted the request of a Shin Bet internal intelligence service representative to extend the activists’ detention by six days. The hearings were notably short: half an hour for Avila and 10 minutes for Abukeshek.

To justify the extension, Israeli authorities argued there is evidence against Avila and Abukeshek, the case is complex and there is a risk of interference with the investigation if they are released.

After the hearing, lawyer Hadeel Abu Saleh explained that the charges — for which factual details are not yet known — are the same as those presented at Sunday’s hearing, when another judge had already extended their police detention by two days.

Currently, Israeli authorities accuse the flotilla activists of collaborating with an enemy during wartime, contacting a foreign agent, belonging to a terrorist organization and providing services to it, and transferring property to a terrorist organization.

“It’s a way of criminalizing any attempt to break the illegal blockade that Israel is imposing on the civilian population,” the lawyer said.

During interrogations, police asked the Global Sumud Flotilla activists about their alleged ties to the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which Israel considers a terrorist organization. They denied having such ties.

The defense, which has reported psychological mistreatment at the detention center, including cold cells and sleep deprivation techniques, said it would file an appeal with the court in the Israeli city of Beersheba, which could decide whether to accept it as soon as today.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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