RAMALLAH, March 15 (JMCC) - A Palestinian leader of protests against
Israel's West Bank
Wall was released from jail on Monday after spending 15 months in prison,
reports AFP.
Abdullah Abu Rahma was one of the chief organizers of weekly demonstrations in Bilin that have come to symbolize the Palestinian fight against the vast separation barrier Israel is building across the West Bank.
Abu Rahma was met by scores of family members, friends and supporters as he walked out of Ofer military prison near the West Bank town of Ramallah, an AFP correspondent said.
He was arrested in December 2009 and convicted eight months later of incitement and organizing and participating in the protests in Bilin village, west of Ramallah, that are regularly attended by scores of Palestinian, Israeli and foreign activists.
But he was acquitted on charges of stone-throwing and weapons possession for exhibiting spent tear-gas canisters fired by Israeli troops.
He was released after serving more than 15 months and still has several weeks of remand time, meaning he risks going back to jail if he participates in or organises any demonstrations, or says anything considered as incitement.
All these arrests and the killing will not prevent us from continuing our struggle against the occupation and against the wall, Abu Rahma told AFP shortly after his release.