‘Political arrest’ of Palestinian academic in Israel is civil liberties threat, say lawyers

Prof Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian’s legal team and employer speak out after arrest over podcast comments

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The arrest and interrogation of a leading Palestinian legal scholar based at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem marks a new threat to civil liberties in Israel, her legal team and employer have said.

Prof Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian was detained by police on the afternoon of 17 April over comments made on a podcast more than a month earlier and held overnight in conditions her lawyers described as “terrible” and designed to humiliate.