Lawyers for Justice have obtained an acquittal from the Ramallah Magistrate Court in favor of detainee, activist, and human rights defender Fakhri Jaradat, in the case where he was prosecuted on charges of “unlawful assembly” for participating in protests condemning the killing of political activist Nizar Banat.

This case highlights the ongoing attempts by the Public Prosecution to criminalize peaceful assembly, despite it being a right guaranteed by the Palestinian Basic Law and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the State of Palestine is a signatory and which is in effect.

It is worth noting that the Israeli occupation authorities later arrested activist Fakhri Jaradat and placed him under administrative detention — without charge or trial.

We reiterate that defending rights and freedoms is not a crime, and that peaceful assembly is a right that must not be confiscated or criminalized.

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