GUE/NGL President Lothar Bisky has reiterated calls for Israel to release without condition the detained Freedom Wave Flotilla to Gaza activists including Irish MEP Paul Murphy.
“We demand the immediate release of the flotilla passengers including Paul Murphy” Bisky said paying tribute to “the efforts of these campaigners in their humanitarian mission and highlighting of the situation inGaza”.
Speaking by telephone from Givon prison inIsrael, where activists from the Freedom Wave Flotilla toGazaremain imprisoned, Paul Murphy has given an account of the ill treatment he and his fellow prisoners have endured since their detention last Friday by the Israeli army.
“The authorities have tried to disorientate us through sleep deprivation. We were denied our right by Israeli law to contact our families within 24 hours of our arrest.”
The flotilla – the Irish ship, MV Saoirse, and the Canadian ship, The Tahrir – attempted to travel fromTurkeytoGaza. Along with 20 other activists in the prison, Murphy is refusing to sign a deportation form which accuses them of enteringIsraelillegally.