Palestinian prisoner Nael Barghouthi, 59 has been imprisoned for 36 years in Israeli jails, and he is the longest-held Palestinian political prisoner. Today, on the basis of so-called “secret evidence,” he is threatened with the re-imposition of life imprisonment with no charges and no legitimate trial.

Along with over 1,000 fellow prisoners, he was released in 2011 as part of the Wafa al-Ahrar prisoner exchange. While he married after his release and returned to his life, in 2014, he was swept up with other former prisoners in a series of arrests. Under Israeli military order 1651 – violating the release agreement –  re-arrested prisoners can have their former sentences reimposed upon them by a military committee on the basis of secret evidence. This secret evidence is denied to both the prisoner and their lawyer.

Even with this secret evidence, Nael Barghouthi was ordered to 30 months in prison, a sentence that ended in mid-December. He has remained in prison due to an appeal by the military prosecution, seeking the re-imposition of a life sentence on the basis of so-called secret evidence. We urge international action to pressure Israel to release Nael Barghouthi, who is being held as a political hostage by the Israeli government.