Israeli court sentences Belgian artist sentenced to 12 months in jail
A court in Israel has sentenced a Belgian artist to 12 months imprisonment. Mustapha Awad, a Belgian with Palestinian roots, was convicted of being a member of a prescribed organisation with whom he had trained.
In the summer Mustapha Awad travelled from Belgium to the West Bank. On the border between Jordan and the West Bank he was detained by the Israeli authorities. He has been in custody ever since on suspicion of involvement in terrorism.
Speaking after her client was detained, Mustapha Awad’s Belgian solicitor Joke Callewaert said that she didn’t know why her client had been arrested as he had no previous convictions.
Israeli media report that Mustapha Awad is detained as a suspected member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
He has now been convicted by a court in Israel and sentenced to 12 months in jail. The court found him guilty of membership of a prescribed organisation, by who he had been trained. He was also found guilty of having financed an organisation that the Israelis consider to be terrorist in nature.