Journalist Abd Abu Shahadeh released from Shin Bet custody

In depth

Abd Abu Shahadeh, a media figure and Balad activist, was arrested on suspicion of contact with a foreign agent in connection with an interview he conducted with Azmi Bishara in Qatar. According to the Shin Bet, he was questioned by the Shin Bet for five days. The court found that there was a reasonable suspicion, and that the grounds for detention do not concern the core of his journalistic work.

The police and the Shin Bet decided not to request an extension of his detention. Abu Shahadeh was released without restrictive conditions, except for an undertaking to appear for questioning if required. Upon his release he claimed that this was a Shin Bet witch hunt in the service of the prime minister, adding: "The political persecution did not start with me and will not end with me".

The Journalists' Association said that the detention itself marks a slippery slope along which press freedom in Israel is deteriorating. Members of the Jewish Congress in the US, Brad Lander, Daniel Biss and Scott Wiener, turned to Israel's ambassador demanding Abu Shahadeh's release, and argued that the detention harms press freedom.