AL-KHALIL - Agencies - The Israeli occupation authority (IOF) ordered the detention of Dr. Aziz Dweik, speaker of the Palestinian legislative council, for six months behind bars without appearing before court.

Fadi Qawasme, the speaker’s lawyer, said that Dweik was supposed to appear in Ofer court on Monday, yet the court did not sit. He added that the Ofer prison administration told him on Tuesday that Dweik was sentenced to six months in administrative custody.

The speaker’s office issued a statement denouncing the “oppressive sentence” in the absence of any legal justification. It charged that the IOA was trying to obstruct Palestinian parliamentary life after the recent internal agreement on holding a PLC session in early February.

The statement urged the world community to end its silence and to demand the release of the Palestinian speaker and all MPs held in Israeli jails.