Jailed PFLP leader Ahmad Saadat said Sunday that he does not recognize the authority of Israeli courts, a human rights lawyer told Ma’an.

Saadat made the comments during a hearing at a magistrates court in Jerusalem, Addameer lawyer Mahmoud Hassan said, adding that the PFLP leader refused to state his name for the court.

The judge asked Saadat how he felt about the Shalit prisoner swap deal, and the fact he was not included. The PFLP leader replied that freedom for the Palestinian homeland was more important to him than his personal liberty.

As the hearing came to an end, Saadat asked the judge how many Israeli and American war criminals had been tried for crimes committed against the Palestinian people.

"It is the Israeli occupation that practices terrorism, and the Palestinians have rights and their struggle is for a just cause," Saadat said.

Saadat was seized by Israeli forces in 2006 from a Palestinian Authority jail in Jericho after a long standoff between prisoners and troops.

He was sentenced to 30 years for his alleged role in masterminding the assassination of former Israeli tourism minister Rahavam Zeevi in 2001.

Saadat was released from solitary confinement in May after spending three years in isolation in Shatta prison.

(Ma’an)