Jerusalem, 11 January 1996
PALESTINIAN PRISONERS RELEASED
(Communicated by Justice Ministry Spokesperson)
On Wednesday, January 10, 1996, Israel freed 812 Palestinian prisoners who
agreed to sign a declaration renouncing terrorism. According to Justice
Minister David Liba'i, only 4 prisoners refused to sign the declaration
and they were not released. 607 of the prisoners were sent to their homes
in Judea and Samaria, 205 to their homes in Gaza and the remainder reached
Nablus and Jenin during the night.
The Justice Minister praised the IDF and Prison Authority officers who
carried out the release in conjunction with Palestinian Authority
officials.
Minister Liba'i made it clear that the prisoners who were released met the
criteria set forth in the interim agreement and by the decision of the
Israeli Government. All of the released prisoners were either found guilty
of only minor offenses or have already served at least two-thirds of their
prison terms. None among them is guilty of either murder or committing
serious acts of terrorism.
Today (Thursday), 11.01.96, an additional 230 Palestinian security
prisoners are scheduled to be transferred to the Palestinian Authority;
they are residents of the territories mostly Fatah members who were
charged with the death or wounding of Palestinians.
These prisoners will be transferred to Palestinian Authority officials
together with the imprisonment orders and judgments issued against them.
These prisoners are forbidden from entering Israel until completion of
their full prison term. Should they violate this condition, they will be
returned to prison for a period of time greater than their initial
sentence.
Minister Liba'i explained that security officials checked each prisoner
who was a candidate for release; only those prisoners who were considered
to pose only a minimal threat to the security of the state and its
residents, or who appeared to support the PLO leadership and its policies,
were chosen for release.
The Justice Minister said, "Had we not agreed to transfer the 230
prisoners with Palestinian blood on their hands to the Palestinian
Authority, we would have had to free a similar number of prisoners who
support Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who in the opinion of security
officials it would be better not to release at this stage. Therefore,
we did not release prisoners whose release was opposed to by security
officials."
The Justice Minister said that the remaining prisoners most of whom
have committed criminal offenses whose release was agreed to, will be
either released or transferred to the Palestinian Authority next week.
Regarding the female Palestinian prisoners, the Justice Minister noted
that they will remain in prison and no attempt to free them against their
will will be made. They will be the subject of discussions at the next
meeting between Dr. Nabil Sha'ath, Freih Abu Medein, and Ministers Liba'i
and Sarid.