Illegally detained MEP accuses Israel of ill treatment and treacherous tactics
Date
Sections
GUE/NGL President Lothar Bisky has reiterated calls for Israel to release without condition the detained Freedom Wave Flotilla to Gaza activists including Irish MEP Paul Murphy.
"We demand the immediate release of the flotilla passengers including Paul Murphy" Bisky said paying tribute to "the efforts of these campaigners in their humanitarian mission and highlighting of the situation in Gaza".
Speaking by telephone from Givon prison in Israel, where activists from the Freedom Wave Flotilla to Gaza remain imprisoned, Paul Murphy has given an account of the ill treatment he and his fellow prisoners have endured since their detention last Friday by the Israeli army.
"The authorities have tried to disorientate us through sleep deprivation. We were denied our right by Israeli law to contact our families within 24 hours of our arrest."
The flotilla - the Irish ship, MV Saoirse, and the Canadian ship, The Tahrir – attempted to travel from Turkey to Gaza. Along with 20 other activists in the prison, Murphy is refusing to sign a deportation form which accuses them of entering Israel illegally.
GUE/NGL Press Contacts:
David Lundy +32 485 50 58 12
Gay Kavanagh +32 473 84 23 20
david.lundy@europarl.europa.eu
gabrielle.kavanagh@europarl.europa.eu
European United Left / Nordic Green Left
European Parliamentary Group