Israel: Palestinian prisoners ask for the right to vote in the presidential election
The Jerusalem Post reports: The minister in charge of Palestinian prisoners for the Palestinian Authority and two Palestinian leaders at Shikma Prison in Ashkelon petitioned the High Court of Justice on Monday to allow the 8,000 Palestinians being held in Israel and the administered territories to vote in next week's Palestinian presidential election.
The petitioners, PA minister Hisham Abdel Rizak and prison leaders Otion Musalah and Ahmed Kamil, are represented by human rights attorney Zvi Rish.
There are an estimated 8,000 Palestinian prisoners currently being held by Israeli security forces. ...
The petitioners accused the government of violating Israeli and international law by preventing the prisoners from exercising their basic right to vote. Rish wrote that Israel allowed its own imprisoned citizens to vote in national elections and since it was allegedly unlawfully holding Palestinians in prisons located in Israel, it was responsible for granting them the same rights it granted its own prisoners. -- Jerusalem Post | Breaking News from Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World