PA security forces continue to detain Palestinian journalist

Headline: “The Palestinian [PA] Security [Forces] are continuing the detention of journalist Thaer Al-Fakhouri”

“The Palestinian [PA] Preventive Security [Forces] are continuing to hold journalist Thaer Al-Fakhouri from Hebron in detention for a fourth day, as the Palestinian Magistrate’s Court in Hebron extended Al-Fakhouri’s detention to four days that will end the day after Sunday [Monday, July 29, 2019]…

Attorney [Hijazi Abido, Fakhouri’s lawyer,] pointed out that the [PA] public prosecutor’s office submitted an indictment against journalist Al-Fakhouri… based on a clause in the 2017 electronic crimes law, in addition to ‘insulting a public employee,’ based on the penal code.

The indictment against him has not yet been published, and they are waiting for the end of the investigations.

According to Attorney Abido, journalist Al-Fakhouri declared in the meeting to extend his detention that the [PA] Security [Forces] demanded that he explain to them the nature of a video that he did not create, which was published on social media pages [and] is connected to mentioning the names of people who work with the Security [Forces], but he refused.”

Palestinian journalist Thaer Al-Fakhouri was arrested on July 24, 2019, by the PA Security Forces following a video that was uploaded to social media and deals with people working with the Security Forces. Al-Fakhouri has worked mainly with Hamas-affiliated media outlets and was already arrested by the PA previously in 2017.