JERUSALEM – A teenage Palestinian girl who shot to fame after her video showing her kicking and slapping two Israeli soldiers went viral, has been sentenced to eight months in jail as part of a plea bargain deal on Thursday.
The 17-year-old Ahed Tamimi became a hero to oppressed Palestinians after a footage emerged showing the girl hitting the soldiers at the entrance to her home in the village of Nabi Saleh in the occupied West Bank.
Apart from the sentence, the girl – who was 16 at the time of the offence – is also being fined 5,000 shekels (about $1,400). She has been detained on remand for three months since her arrest on Dec 19.
When her trial began in February, she faced 12 charges, including aggravated assault, however, 8 were dropped as part of the plea deal.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/world/ahed-tamimi-a-16-year-old-too-dangerous-to-release-on-bail/
Tamimi’s Israeli lawyer, Gaby Lasky, said Tamimi agreed to the sentence as part of a plea deal with prosecutors that allowed her to avoid more serious charges that could have sent him behind bars for years, however, the teenager told newsmen in court that there was “no justice under occupation and we are in an illegal court.”
Tamimi’s mother, Nariman, and a cousin were also arrested. Both are reported to have accepted plea bargains.
UN Denounces Jail Sentence
The United Nations Human Rights Commission has criticised the decision by the Israeli court to sentence Ahed Tamimi.
In a statement released on Thursday, the commission decried the Israeli practice of “detaining Palestinian children, most of them on remand, that is, before or during the trial.
According to international human rights law, the detention of children should only be a measure of last resort and for the least time possible.
Moreover, Magdalena Mughrabi, Amnesty International’s deputy director for the Middle East, also decried the move.
“Today’s sentence is another alarming example of the Israeli authorities’ contempt for their obligations to protect the basic rights of Palestinians living under their occupation, especially children,” said the activist as quoted by The Independent.
“By sentencing Ahed to eight months in prison, the Israeli authorities have confirmed yet again that they have no regard for the rights of Palestinian children, and have no intention to reverse their discriminatory policies,” declared Mughrabi.
