Israel sentences prominent Palestinian lawyer, brother to prison

Palestinian lawyer and activist Shireen Issawi was sentenced to four years in Israeli prison on Monday and her brother Medhat Issawi to eight years in the same hearing in the Jerusalem central court.

Shireen, 38, and Medhat, 42, were accused of communicating with and providing funds to Palestinian prisoners that they represented through their legal practice.

Shireen was arrested on 7 March 2014 and her brother Medhat one week later, on 13 March 2014; Medhat had previously served 20 years in Israeli prisons, while Shireen had been held under house arrest, again for supporting Palestinian prisoners.

Shireen Issawi, a prominent Palestinian lawyer and activist in her own right, was internationally visible as the spokesperson for the campaign to support her brother, Samer Issawi, during his lengthy hunger strike in 2012 and 2013, which won his freedom.