“The lawyer told me what happened in court and that we cannot do anything. They are in “a state of war” and the army is the one who decides the fate of the prisoners” - Rasha Abu Moais, wife to Mustafa

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Mustafa Sheta, producer of The Freedom Theatre, has been given six months of administrative detention. He is a precautionary detainee imprisoned without charge.

 

Israel has presented no evidence against Mustafa but suggested they do not want him outside the prison because he writes articles criticizing Israel.

 

Previously Mustafa's lawyer was able to see him for ten minutes. Mustafa was transferred to Salem prison for investigation. The questions were: "Are you affiliated with an organization? Do you engage in political activity?"

 

Mustafa's "trial" was in a closed military court, and only the lawyer could enter. These "trials" by the Israeli occupying army, are normally judged by a military officer. There is no justice or judicial process and military orders always take precedence over Israeli and international law. On the rare occasions when international law is used, it is done so to favour the occupying power.

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Administration detention is a procedure that allows the Israeli military to hold Palestinians indefinitely on "secret information" without charge or trial. 800,000 Palestinians have been held in this system since 1967 with the longest detention for eight years.

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Since October 7th, there have been reports of an increase in physical and psychological torture by Israel inside the prisons, and at least six Palestinians have been killed.  

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Mustafa was previously held in Megiddo prison located in Israel (historically Palestine). Under Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, all Palestinian detainees are supposed to be held in the West Bank. Therefore any Israeli violation of this Article attracts personal criminal liability.

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Poet and graduate from The Freedom Theatre Jamal Abu Joas, saw Mustafa in prison, where they were both being held. Mustafa said to him, “Let's make a theatre in prison and we can work from here”

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In 2015, Mustafa was taken by the Israeli army and held in Administrative detention for six months.

 

At that time, Mustafa was the secretary of the Board of The Freedom Theatre. As a researcher and journalist, he was well-known for his social and humanitarian activism. He also worked at the United Nations and studied for a Master’s degree at the Arab American University.

 

Upon his release in 2015, he lost his job at the United Nations. However, their loss was The Freedom Theatre’s gain and he became the Producer in 2017.

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