Israeli court rejects appeal of Palestinian held without trial

Israel's supreme court rejected Tuesday the appeal lodged by a Palestinian man, Osama Barham, who has been held in an Israeli prison for five years without trial.

Barham, 36, was arrested in 1993 on charges of fighting with organizations opposing any compromise with Israel. He requested that a court assesses the value of testimonies against him.

The former journalism student has been since then imprisoned without trial. The court turned down the request and refused to call the witnesses before a military court.

Israeli authorities often have recourse to administrative detention that allows them to imprison persons without trial for renewable periods of six months. The only restriction is that this measure should have reasonable justifications, to ensure public security or that of a given geographic sector.