MAIN |
REPORTS |
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) member Greg Rollins,
30, from Surrey BC, was released today from Ramle Prison near Tel
Aviv, Israel, where he had
been held without charges for seventeen days after his arrest in
Hebron,on
May 18. On May 29 the Israeli High Court overturned a deportation
order against Rollins and gave the Israeli military until June 20
to answer a petition challenging his arrest. En route back to Jerusalem,
Rollins reported,
"I'm good. I'm doing fine. I have a better
understanding now of what it is like for Palestinians to be held
without charges. The Israeli army did this to try and scare us and
other international peace groups.
"I was doing nothing wrong. Like every day
for the past two years, I was sitting in the Palestinian-controlled
part of Hebron, watching Israeli soldiers thirty metres away as
they checked some civilians's identification. After five minutes,
the soldiers came over and took my identification papers too, held
them for three hours, and then arrested me with no charges."
Rollins was held in a twelve square metre prison
cell with five others and allowed outside for only 30 minutes per
day. He said,
"They counted us six times a day. It was ludicrous.
Where could we go? I lost ten pounds."
Claire Evans
Personnel and Delegation Coordinator
Christian Peacemaker Teams
|