Press release – 461(2006)
PACE President calls for the immediate release of the Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council
Strasbourg, 07.08.2006 – Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) President René van der Linden today deplored the arrest by the Israeli Army of the Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Aziz Dweik, and called for his immediate release.
"The Palestinian Legislative Council is a democratically elected parliamentary body that derives its legitimacy from elections held in January this year, which the members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe who observed them declared were conducted 'in a well organised and democratic fashion'. All legitimately elected parliamentarians enjoy parliamentary immunity unless and until they are divested of it by their own Parliaments. It is therefore totally unacceptable to now detain the duly appointed Speaker of the PLC, as it was unacceptable to detain twenty other Palestinian lawmakers and eight members of the Government of the Palestinian Authority on 29 June. I call for their immediate release", said President van der Linden.
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Download Document Files: https://unispal.un.org/pdfs/4612006f.pdf
Document Type: French text, Press Release
Document Sources: Council of Europe, Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly
Subject: Electoral issues, Incidents, Prisoners and detainees, Situation in the OPT including Jerusalem
Publication Date: 07/08/2006