“Flottilla for Gaza”: Israeli justice extends the detention of two activists

An Israeli court on Sunday ordered the two-day extension of the detention of two activists from the "Gaza Flotilla", a Spaniard and a Brazilian, arrested by Israel off the coast of Greece.

“The court extended their detention by two days,” Miriam Azem, of the Israeli human rights NGO Adalah, told AFP. The authorities had requested a four-day extension, she said.

The Spaniard Saif Abu Keshek and the Brazilian Thiago Avila were presented in the morning to the court in Ashkelon, a coastal town where they are detained. The NGO's lawyers were able to see them on Saturday in their prison in Shikma.

According to an AFP photographer, the Brazilian arrived in the courtroom with his hands handcuffed behind his back and the Spaniard with his feet shackled by chains.

According to Ms. Azem, they described an arrest of "extreme brutality" and were informed that they would be questioned by Israeli internal intelligence in particular on suspicion of "affiliation with a terrorist organization".

Thiago Avila told lawyers that he was "dragged face down and beaten so violently that he lost consciousness twice."

He added that, since his arrival in Israel, he had been "kept in solitary confinement, blindfolded", according to Miriam Azem.

Claims rejected by the Israeli Foreign Ministry: "contrary to the false and unfounded allegations prepared in advance, Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Ãvila were at no time subjected to torture", its spokesperson, Oren Marmorstein, told AFP.

According to this ministry, Saif Abu Keshek is "one of the leaders" of the Palestinian Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), a charitable association accused by the United States and Israel of being affiliated with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. Thiago Avila works with the association and is suspected of illegal activities, again according to the same source.

During the hearing, their lawyer argued that "they were part of a humanitarian mission aimed at providing aid to civilians in Gaza, and not to any other organization, whether terrorist or not."

“We reject all the accusations that have been presented (...) and demand the immediate release of these two men,” added Hadeel Abou Salih, leaving the court.

- "completely illegal" -

Brazil and Spain denounced their arrest and Spanish diplomacy refuted accusations of a link between its national and Hamas.

On Sunday, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs again demanded the "immediate release" of its national, in a message sent to AFP, specifying that the Spanish consul in Tel Aviv had accompanied "the illegally detained Spaniard" to the hearing.

Saturday, the minister, José Manuel Albares, av