Rabat- After three months of being held in custody, the 17-year-old face of Palestinian resistance in the occupied West Bank, Ahed Tamimi, has accepted a plea deal for eight months in prison along with nearly USD 1,500 fine, her lawyer Gaby Lasky, said.
After a video showing Ahed striking and kicking Israeli soldiers went viral, a group of Israeli Military forces barged into Tamimi’s household in the village of Nabi Saleh at 4 a.m. on December 19, 2017. She has remained in police custody since the incident, after receiving 12 charges, including “assault” and “incitement.”
According to Lasky, Tamimi had agreed to plead guilty to four of the 12 charges she faced, including assault, incitement, and two counts of obstructing soldiers.
Tamimi’s lawyer added that she will pay a fine of 5,000 shekels, almost USD 1,500 and accept an additional eight-month jail term, expecting her to be released this summer as the sentence includes the time served.
The Israeli army said in a statement after the sentence that it “will continue operating in order to preserve the security and public order in (the West Bank) and enforce the law as it pertains to anyone who harms soldiers and incites violence.”
The teen’s trial occurred behind closed doors at the Ofer military court in the occupied West Bank on February 13. An appeal by Ahed Tamimi’s attorney to have the teenage activist’s trial opened to the public has been denied by an Israeli military judge.
According to the Times of Israel, Judge Gilad Peretz wrote that “he did not feel that he had the authority to overrule the court’s original decision on February 13,” adding the judge’s opinion on holding the teenage activist’s trial behind closed doors “is in the best interest of the minor.”
Tamimi’s case has garnered international attention as she quickly became an iconic symbol of Palestinian resistance, with the video of the incident reaching thousands of users on various social media platforms.
