Palestinian veteran prisoner Nael Al-Barghouthi, who was freed in the Gilad Shalit swap deal said prisoners reject being exiled or taken away from their families.
Al-Barghouthi is longest serving Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails.
“Exile is off the table. These (freed) prisoners will not accept anything but freedom and return to their families,” Al-Barghouthi told Palestinian Prisoners Club lawyer, PIC reported.
New York City protest demands freedom for Nael Barghouthi https://t.co/4w6ch9eHdG pic.twitter.com/6uXl4tB9ks
— Joe Catron (@jncatron) January 28, 2017
Al-Barghouthi’s comment followed reports of a possible new prisoners exchange deal between the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, and Israel. The armed wing, however, insisted that the re-arrested prisoners should be released before negotiating the new swap deal.
Al-Barghouthi was released in the Shalit deal in 2011 but the Israeli occupation forces re-arrested him in 2014 and sentenced him to 30 months in prison. He was supposed to be released in December 17 but the Israeli authorities kept him in custody.
Al-Barghouthi, 59, from Kobar village in Ramallah province, spent 36 years in Israeli jails and is considered the longest serving prisoner, as he served 34 years before being released then he was held for two years and remains in custody.
(PIC, PC, Social Media)
