07 January 2005	Friday	25 Ziqa'ad 1425

JERUSALEM, Jan 6: The Israeli supreme court on Thursday rejected an appeal by the Palestinian Authority that Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails be allowed to vote in Sunday's ballot to elect a successor to Yasser Arafat.

Rejecting an appeal filed by Palestinian prisoner affairs minister Hisham Abdel razzeq, the three supreme court judges said there was not enough time to organize a ballot in the various Israeli prison facilities where some 8,000 Palestinians are behind bars.

Abdel razzeq and two representatives of the prisoners filed appeals with the Israeli supreme court earlier this week shortly after an Israeli ministerial commission decided it would not authorize the prisoners to vote in the election.

Speaking to AFP in Gaza City, Abdelrazzeq slammed the decision as illegal and a violation of the prisoners' human rights. There is no legal basis to this decision. It's illegal and a political decision," he said.

"It's a fundamental right for all Palestinians to participate in this election. This decision violates Palestinian human rights, but we will work to guarantee the participation of all prisoners in the parliamentary elections," he added, referring to the legislative elections which will be held in June.

Issa Qaraqa, who heads a Bethlehem-based Prisoners' Club, said the court's decision did not come as a surprise because Israel considered the detainees as little more than "criminals and terrorists".

"Israel is now preventing these prisoners from exercising their political rights (because it) wants to hide the prisoner issue. If they participated in the election, this issue would be in the spotlight again," he said.

Following the ruling, the Prisoners' Club distributed a statement among the families of the prisoners, urging them to exercise their legal rights to vote on behalf of their incarcerated family member.

The Palestinian central election committee has issued ballot slips for all detainees which can be used by an authorized family representative, Qaraqa said. One of the most high profile detainees is Marwan Barghuti, the man seen as the inspiration behind the Palestinian uprising but who was handed five life sentences last year.

Barghuti had originally announced his candidature but later withdrew from the race under pressure from the dominant Fatah faction, the party of PLO chairman Mahmud Abbas, who is the overwhelming favourite to win the election. -AFP