Palestinian journalist arrested at Schiphol still in custody
Palestinian journalist and activist Mustafa Ayyash, arrested Friday at Schiphol Airport at the request of Austrian authorities, will remain in pretrial detention for at least 20 more days, RTL reports. He appeared Monday before the examining magistrate at the Amsterdam court.
Ayyash, founder of Gaza Now, reports on the war in Gaza and is known for advocating for the rights of Palestinians. Austria has accused him of having ties to the terrorist organization Hamas.
Ayyash fled Gaza for Austria after losing family members in an Israeli bombing. From Austria, he continued reporting on the conflict in Gaza via social media. He traveled to the Netherlands for a family visit.
His lawyer, Frederieke Dölle, said the arrest by the Dutch Marechaussee was based on a European arrest warrant issued by Austria. “The Dutch judges do not make a substantive judgment on the charges,” Dölle told RTL. “They only assess whether all conditions for a European arrest warrant are met and whether the requested person’s fundamental rights are protected.”
Dölle noted that Ayyash is a well-known Palestinian journalist and that Israeli authorities frequently accuse journalists of Hamas links to silence them. “It is possible Austria’s accusation is based on misinformation from Israel,” she said.
She added that funds raised through Gaza Now for humanitarian purposes are also being falsely claimed to have been diverted to Hamas. “These accusations are often made incorrectly against activists trying to provide humanitarian aid in Gaza,” Dölle told the newspaper.
