August 3, 2020
Benjamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister
The Prime Minister’s Office, Public Enquiries Department, Kiryat Ben Gurion, Building C, Jerusalem 91950, Israel
Tel: 03-6109898
Fax: 02-5605000
Dear Prime Minister Netanyahu:
The Committee of Concerned Scientists is an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for our colleagues all over the world.
We are writing to express our continued concern for Dr. Imad Barghouthi, an internationally respected Palestinian Astrophysicist and professor at al-Quds University, who has been jailed without a charge and detained since his arrest on July 16 at a checkpoint near Jerusalem. This is the third time in six years that Dr. Barghouthi has been arrested, and he has, in the past, been held for months without charge in “administrative detention”.
We strongly object to detaining Dr. Barghouthi with no charges being presented against him.
We believe this current detention of Dr. Barghouthi is related to some of his posts on Facebook, which should not be grounds for any kind of legal action. We write to request that you review this case and that Dr. Barghouti be immediately and unconditionally released if he is not charged with a legitimate criminal offense. He is scheduled to appear in court today – Monday August 3rd. We ask that you please contact the court and encourage his release.
We thank you for your attention to this important matter, and look forward to receiving your response.
Sincerely,
cc:
Ayelet Shaked
Minister of Justice
29 Salah al-Din Street
Jerusalem 91010, Israel
Fax: +972 2 640 8402 E
mail: sar@justice.gov.il
Ron Dermer
Ambassador
Embassy of Israel
3514 International Drive, NW
Washington, DC 20008
T: 202.364.5500 | F: 1 202 364 5607
Email: info@washington.mfa.gov.il