Sheikh Raed Salah sentenced to 9 months by Israeli court

Ma'an
Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, was sentenced on Wednesday to nine months in prison and another six months probation in Jerusalem's Magistrates’ Court, Israeli media reported.

Sheikh Salah was accused of spitting on an Israeli officer in 2007 at the Dung Gate, in the Old City, occupied East Jerusalem, and in addition to the sentence, was ordered to pay the officer 7,500 Israeli shekels.

"We reject the court's ruling. It doesn't frighten us. We will continue to have the occupation removed from al-Aqsa," the Israeli daily Ynet quoted Sheikh Salah as saying.

“This is a hefty sentence in order to make clear to the convicted the gravity of the offences he committed," saidJudge Yitzhak Shimoni wrote in the verdict.

Palestinian Israeli Member of Knesset Mohammad Barakeh also visited the court house. "“This is a political trial and a political sentence. I was surprised by the unprecedented punishment that was made through non-legal considerations.

"East Jerusalem is occupied territory and does not belong to the State of Israel. The police officer was in a place that does not belong to him, and he has no jurisdiction in that area. There is racism and violation of the freedom of religion and worship. The police raided a place of worship." ... Full story