NEWS UPDATE

14 June 2010

District Court Sets Next Hearing in Ameer Makhoul's Case on 27 June 2010; State Prosecutor Announces 'Secret Evidence' that will not be Disclosed to Legal Defense Team

On 13 June 2010, the Haifa District Court held a status hearing on the case of Ameer Makhoul, the general director of Ittijah, a network of Arab NGOs in Israel, and a human rights defender. Mr. Makhoul has been indicted for assistance to the enemy in a time of war, conspiracy to assist an enemy, aggravated espionage, and contact with a foreign agent, charges which he vehemently denies.

Mr. Makhoul's legal defense team, comprised of Attorney Hussein Abu Hussein and Adalah Attorneys Orna Kohn and Hassan Jabareen, asked the court to delay the next hearing on the case as they did not receive all of the evidentiary material from the state prosecution to be able to answer the indictment. The state prosecution announced before the court that part of the evidentiary material is "secret" and will not be disclosed to the legal defense team.

The court set the next hearing for Sunday 27 June 2010 at 9:00 am, and four more hearings in July and September 2010.

A hearing on Mr. Makhoul's extension of detention will also be held on Monday 21 June 2010 before the Haifa District Court.

For more information, see: Special Report on Adalah's website:
http://www.adalah.org/eng/political/political.html