The Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe has condemned the UK’s arrest of Sheikh Raed Salah

The Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe has condemned the UK’s arrest of Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic movement in 1948 occupied Palestine, on 28 June and expressed shock over the way the arrest was conducted.

The statement called the arrest surprising and said that it raised “broad condemnation.” The FIOE said Salah was a renowned for his civil, peaceful struggle for Jerusalem and the Islamic and Christian holy sites there.

“He has suffered from the oppression of the Zionist Israeli occupation authorities, which imposed several sanctions and placed him in prison more than once, as a punishment for his civil peaceful efforts. And instead of the honor he should have received from the free world, those who defend rights and popular freedoms and those who seek justice and shun oppression and unjust occupation, the Sheikh was arrested, sending a message in the wrong direction altogether,” the FIOE said in the statement.

The FIOE called on British officials to release Salah immediately and to allow him to communicate with the civil community and public freely, emphasizing the importance of making amends for what has taken place against him.