Released prisoner gets compensation after exoneration

Ofer Military Court will compensate a released prisoner with 60,000 NIS as he was exonerated after being accused of assaulting an Israeli settler in south Hebron, said the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club (PPC) on Thursday. PPC Attorney, Akram Samara, said that 17-year-old Ali Odeh was arrested in 2012 after an Israeli settler filed a complaint stating that Odeh had assaulted and robbed her. PPC decided to represent Odeh and was able to exonerate him when the settler’s allegations were proven false after Odeh had already spent 171 days in jail. Odeh’s lawyer’s fees will also be paid, which amounts 20,000 NIS. Once the ruling was announced, the PPC requested that Odeh be compensated for the psychological and financial damage he was inflicted to. The compensation will not be paid by Israel’s Ministry of Defense or Ministry of Internal Security but it will be paid by the civil administration’s fund (The Military Zone Leadership fund), which consists of taxes, fines, and custom fees collected from Palestinians in the West Bank, said Samara.