A number of Anglican bishops have written a letter of support for Layan Nasir, a Palestinian Christian woman who was held in detention by Israel for eight months despite not being charged or convicted of any crime.
Nasir, who lives in the West Bank, was first arrested by Israeli security services in 2021 at the age of 21. She was alleged to have been a supporter of the Democratic Progressive Student Pole, a student-led union that Israel has banned due to alleged terrorist associations.
She was held in custody for two months before being released on bond. Nasir was not convicted of any crime but spent the next two years in and out of court as key decisions relating to her case were continually deferred.
Last April Nasir was placed in “administrative detention” for eight months. Under such arrangements the Israeli security services can indefinitely remove the liberty of a person who is believed to be a security threat.
Now the Ofer Military Court is pushing for an eight-month prison sentence. Nasir’s lawyers are attempting to reach a plea deal that would see Nasir fined or subject to sanctions other than imprisonment. So far the military prosecution has refused such overtures, demanding incarceration.
In their letter, the Bishops of Chelmsford, Gloucester, Norwich and Southwark, said that an additional custodial sentence for Nasir would be a “travesty”, Church Times reports. Some of the bishops have previously met with Nasir while on visits to the Holy Land.
The letter, according to Church Times, states, “We can only imagine the anxiety and stress that you are feeling and we want to reassure you that you and your family are very much in our thoughts and prayers.
“It would be a travesty if your rehabilitation and reintegration back into society is interrupted by a further custodial sentence on a spurious charge from over four years ago. We earnestly pray that a plea deal can be negotiated with the court that avoids such an outcome.”
The bishops said they had also written to the Israeli Ambassador in London and the British Government “to ensure that the Military Court makes a fair and just decision”.
Should Nasir be imprisoned, concerns have been raised for her safety due to the “extremely harsh” reality of Israeli prisons and the fact that Nasir would be the only Christian inmate.
