The Cairo-based Arab League on Monday lashed out at an Israeli court sentence against Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) Speaker Aziz Dweik, who is held at an Israeli jail, the Egyptian MENA news agency reported.
The verdict "has no legal basis" and Israel "is turning a blind eye to all international conventions and violating the legitimate rights of Palestinians," MENA cited a statement of the pan-Arab organization.
On Tuesday, an Israeli military court gave a three-year sentence to Dweik, who has already been in the Israeli jail for more than two years.
Dweik, who is also a senior Islamic Hamas movement leader in the West Bank, was arrested along with some 40 Hamas lawmakers and ministers by Israel in summer of 2006.
The detention of Dweik "was meant to paralyze Palestinian legislative life," said the AL.
Dweik's lawyer Fadi el-Qawasmeh has said that Dweik was brought to the Offer military base in the West Bank.
El-Qawasmeh doubted that Israel would soon free Dweik, who will succeed current Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas according to Hamas, after the end of his presidential term on Jan. 9.