JEDDAH, 16 May 2008 — An Israeli court is currently looking into the case of a 38-year-old Saudi man who has been languishing in an Israeli prison for two years after inadvertently crossing into the Jewish state from Egypt while out trekking.
Israeli forces arrested Abdul Rahman Al-Atwi, who is from Tabuk, after his crossing into Israel in 2005.
Buthaina Duqmaq, a lawyer from the Ramallah-based Mandela Institute for Human Rights and Political Prisoners — which is representing Al-Atwi, told Arab News that the Tel Aviv Central Court has asked the Israeli Interior Ministry for an explanation into why Al-Atwi is still in prison.
An earlier court verdict demanded that he be set free no later than April 30, unless the Israeli government had good reason to continue detaining him. Duqmaq added that the Israeli Interior Ministry is expected to reply in two days. “It’s been more than two weeks since the court ordered his release,” she said.
An Israeli court in March 2005 sentenced Al-Atwi to three months in jail for illegally crossing into Israeli territory from Egypt. Since no diplomatic ties exist between the Kingdom and Israel, Al-Atwi should have ideally been released to a third country, which could facilitate his return to Saudi Arabia.
Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal confirmed on April 4, 2006, that Israel was holding the Saudi national and that Riyadh was in contact with the UN to secure his release.
However, UN efforts to hand Al-Atwi over to Saudi authorities via a third country have been unsuccessful as five countries, both Arab and non-Arab, declined to accept him.
Lawyers representing the Saudi national recently asked the court how long the Saudi would remain imprisoned while a third country is found. Duqmaq said Al-Atwi could possibly remain in prison for the rest of his life before a third country steps forward to accept him.
She added that it is possible that Al-Atwi be released inside Israel and leave the country by land into a neighboring country and then onto Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi national has staged three hunger strikes — ranging from 70 to 90 days — since his imprisonment, said Duqmaq, who has visited him several times and is scheduled to visit him on Monday. “His general health is poor due to the hunger strikes. It has even affected his eyesight,” she added.
Before his arrest, Al-Atwi was in Egypt where he was living in a flat in the Al-Muhandiseen district. Police later found his personal belongings in the flat as well as his telephone number. When contacted by phone, he was between Sinai and Ismailiya. “After that we never had any contact with him,” said Lt. Col. Sameer Al-Babli, an Egyptian police officer.
His family was quoted in the local media as saying that he lost his way on a hiking trip in Sinai. Al-Atwi, who is divorced with a daughter, hails from the northwestern region of Tabuk. He worked in the Civil Defense before moving to work for a company in Makkah.
