HEBRON: Rollins released from Israeli prison

HEBRON: Rollins released from Israeli prison

Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) member Greg Rollins, 30, from Surrey BC, was released today from Ramle Prison near Tel Aviv, Israel, where he had been held without charges for seventeen days after his arrest in Hebron,on May 18. On May 29 the Israeli High Court overturned a deportation order against Rollins and gave the Israeli military until June 20 to answer a petition challenging his arrest.

En route back to Jerusalem, Rollins reported, "I'm good. I'm doing fine. I have a better understanding now of what it is like for Palestinians to be held without charges. The Israeli army did this to try and scare us and other international peace groups.

"I was doing nothing wrong. Like every day for the past two years, I was sitting in the Palestinian-controlled part of Hebron, watching Israeli soldiers thirty metres away as they checked some civilians' identification. After five minutes, the soldiers came over and took my identification papers too, held them for three hours, and then arrested me with no charges."

Rollins was held in a twelve square metre prison cell with five others and allowed outside for only 30 minutes per day. He said, "They counted us six times a day. It was ludicrous. Where could we go? I lost ten pounds."

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