The Freedom Theatre to hand over 2000 signatures to President Abbas demanding Zakaria Zubeidi’s immediate release

On Thursday, September 20 at 2 pm (GMT +2) a delegation from The Freedom Theatre will go to the office of President Mahmoud Abbas to hand over a petition signed by more than 2000 people from all over the world, demanding Zakaria Zubeidi’s immediate release from punitive detention in the Palestinian Authority’s prison.
Zakaria Zubeidi, co-founder of The Freedom Theatre and a central figure in the Palestinian resistance, was on Monday September 17 sentenced to another 19 days in Palestinian Authority prison, where he has been held since May 13. No charges or evidence of wrongdoing have been presented against him. Zakaria Zubeidi has been severely mistreated during his time in punitive detention and his rights have repeatedly been violated. He has resumed a full food and fluid strike and has been told by a doctor that he only has a few more days to live.
The petition states: “We the undersigned call upon you [President Abbas] to take urgent steps to ensure Zakaria Zubeidi’s immediate release from punitive detention, and to ensure a fair trial for any allegations for which there is sufficient evidence to stand up in court.
 We ask you to ensure that Palestinian law is upheld in this matter, as well as in all other matters involving illegal imprisonment or treatment of prisoners.”
Human Rights Watch has strongly criticized the Palestinian Authority’s handling of Zakaria Zubeidi’s case. Bill van Esveld, senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch, stated recently: “For more than four months, the PA has violated Zubeidi’s basic due process rights to be charged and tried, and continues to ignore his statements that interrogators tortured him. The PA’s foreign donors should urgently pressure it to end the impunity and arbitrary detentions that Zubeidi’s case exemplifies and that he is risking his life to protest.”
The delegation visiting President Abbas on Thursday will include the Managing Director of The Freedom Theatre, the Artistic Director of The Freedom Theatre, the Chairperson of The Freedom Theatre’s Board, the Chairperson of The US Friends of The Freedom Theatre and many others.

Sign the petition
For more information:
Jonatan Stanczak, Managing Director of The Freedom Theatre
+972(0)599017654, +972(0)543915708
jonatan@thefreedomtheatre.org
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[1] http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/07/27/israelpalestinian-authority-theater-group-hit-both-sides
http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/09/18/israelpalestinian-authority-charge-or-free-palestinian-detainees

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