Palestinian lawyers sentenced to prison for contacting prisoners

The Israeli Central Court in Jerusalem has sentenced Shireen al-Issawi and her brother Medhat al-Issawi to prison on charges of providing funds to Palestinian prisoners.

Shireen, sister of former hunger striker Samir Issawi and prominent lawyer, was sentenced to four years in prison while her brother was sentenced to eight years.

The siblings were charged with contacting Palestinian prisoners and providing them with funds, which Israel describes as terrorism.

Both Shireen and Medhat were held for two years in administrative detention after being arrested in 2014 as part of a campaign against Palestinian prisoners.

They have been detained multiple times with Medhat spending more than 20 years in Israeli prisons.

Amjad Abu Assab, the head of the Jerusalem Committee for Families of Prisoners condemned the rulings as unjust, adding that they represent an assault on Palestinian lawyers and an attempt to silence voices that defend the prisoners movement.

The defendants' brother Samer al-Issawi almost died when he undertook a 266-day hunger strike in 2012, one of the longest in history.