Female ex-detainee: Support sick prisoners

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian female ex-detainee called Wednesday for attention to chronically ill prisoners in Israeli jails, in a ministerial reception in Ramallah.

Nada Derbas, 23, said prisoners needed concrete support and not condemnation. Urgent help was needed for the many detainees with chronic illnesses, she added.

Hosting the reception in his Ramallah office, Minister of Prisoners' Affairs Issa Qaraqe stressed that all Palestinian prisoners must be supported, particularly women detainees, both during and after their jail term.

Derbas, from Jerusalem, was released on March 7, 2011, having spent four years in Israeli jail.

They received the ex-detainee Nada Derbas from Jerusalem after she was arrested for 5 years.

Also attending the reception were members of Derbas' family, deputy prisoners' minister Ziad Abu Ein, and director of legal affairs Jawad El- Amawy.

There are 38 Palestinian women remaining in Israeli prisons, the minister noted.