Ahmad Manasra, 23, has been released after completing nine-and-a-half-year sentence, lawyer says.
A Palestinian who was arrested at age 13 for allegedly taking part in a stabbing attack has been released after spending more than nine years in prison, where he developed severe mental health issues but was repeatedly denied requests for early release.
Ahmad Manasra, now 23, was released on Thursday after completing his nine-and-a-half-year sentence, his lawyer Khaled Zabarqa said.
Manasra, from occupied East Jerusalem, was sentenced for being present with his cousin Hassan Manasra, who stabbed two Israelis near the illegal settlement of Pisgat Ze’ev in East Jerusalem in 2015.
Hassan, who was 15 at the time, was shot dead by an Israeli man, while Ahmad was severely beaten by a group of Israelis and run over by an Israeli driver, suffering fractures to his skull and internal bleeding. A graphic video of Ahmad lying in the street, bleeding from the head while Israelis taunted him, garnered millions of views at the time.
Ahmad was charged with attempted murder even though he did not stab anyone – something that the courts had acknowledged.
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Authorities first moved Manasra to isolation in November 2021, following a scuffle with another detainee. In interviews the following year, his family and lawyers said he was locked in a small cell for 23 hours a day and suffered from paranoia and delusions that kept him from sleeping. His lawyer said Manasra had tried to harm himself.
His family said he was transferred to the psychiatric wing of another prison every few months, where doctors gave him injections to stabilise him.
In December 2021, an external doctor was allowed to visit Ahmad for the first time since his imprisonment. The doctor from Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) issued a medical report stating that Ahmad suffers from schizophrenia.
He warned at the time that continued imprisonment could lead to permanent damage to his mental health.
‘Huge relief’
Ahmad’s release comes after numerous local and international bodies, including the European Union and the United Nations, repeatedly called for his immediate release.
Appeals to Israel’s Supreme Court for his early release were repeatedly denied. The courts ruled that he was ineligible, regardless of age or mental condition, because he was convicted of “terrorism”.
Between Ahmad’s conviction and sentencing, Israeli law was amended to allow civilian courts to convict children as young as 12 for so-called “terrorist offences”.
Zabarqa said that Israeli prison authorities freed Ahmad “away from the Nafha Prison [facility] to prevent his family from receiving him, leaving him alone in an empty area”.
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A passer-by found Ahmad in the Beersheba area in the southern Negev region and contacted his family, who reunited with him later, Zabarqa said.
He confirmed Ahmad has been reunited with his parents.
“We know in jail he’s been very ill. We’re waiting to know more about his health situation now,” Zabarqa said.
Amnesty International’s regional director Heba Morayef hailed his release, saying it is a “huge relief for him and his family”.
“Nothing can undo the years of injustice, abuse, trauma and ill-treatment he endured behind bars,” Morayef said in a statement on Thursday.