MK Naffa’s trial postponed to end of April

Nazareth District Court decided on Monday to postpone the trial of Arab MK Said Naffa to April 29, after holding the first session of the trial on Sunday, where the general prosecutor charged Naffa of illegal traveling to an “enemy state” and contacting a foreign agent. Details of the case go back to 2007, when Naffa organised and accompanied a delegation of around 300 Druze social and religious figures to visit sacred sites in Syria in September 2007. The prosecution charged him of contacting a foreign agent, in reference to meeting leaderships in political organizations which Israel considers “terrorist organizations”. Naffa had refuted the charges, explaining that all his activities and meetings were within the framework of his tasks as an elected member of the Knesset. Regarding organising the Druze visit to Syria and Lebanon, Naffa said that the Israeli law, which forbids the visits of religious figures to Syria and Lebanon for humanitarian purposes, is an “arbitrary law”, adding that such law, drafted in 1949 as part of a set of emergency laws, contradicts with democracy and International Laws. MK’s defense is led by Adalah Center attorneys Hassan Jabareen and Orna Kohn, in addition to lawyer Selim Wakim. It is worth mentioning that Naffa was stripped off legal immunity following his visit to Syria.