Israel sentences youngest Jordanian prisoner to 15 years in jail

AMMAN — Israeli authorities on Thursday sentenced Mohammad Suleiman to 15 years in prison and a fine of 30,000 Israeli shekels (about JD5,480), according to his father.

The teenager, who was 16 years old when he was arrested in March 2013 while visiting his relatives in the West Bank, faced 27 charges, including attempted murder and injuring 18 Israeli soldiers.

"The fine represents compensation to those who were allegedly injured and has to be paid within two months of the sentence," Mahdi Suleiman, Mohammad's father, told The Jordan Times.

The prisoner's father said he met with the secretary general of the Prime Ministry on Thursday and complained about some Foreign Ministry employees who recently mistreated him when he asked them to follow up on Mohammad's case.

According to a statement from the media team supporting Jordanian prisoners in Israel, Fedaa, the 58-year-old father said the secretary general received him well and assured him that the government would follow up on Mohammad’s case.

Between March 2013 and Thursday, Mohammad, the youngest Jordanian prisoner in Israel’s jails, attended more than 60 hearing sessions, with Israeli authorities repeatedly adjourning his trial for no apparent reason.

On June 14, Mahdi started a hunger strike near the Foreign Ministry to push for help in arranging a visit to his son, and ended it five days later after the ministry succeeded in securing him a visa.

The father visited his son in Megiddo Prison in Haifa, where he spent around 45 minutes with him while separated by a glass barrier, although he was expecting a two-hour visit with direct contact, Mahdi said previously.

There are now 24 Jordanian prisoners in Israel, Fedaa member Shireen Nafe told The Jordan Times earlier in November.