Terrorist rearrested three days after release
Three days after his release from prison following a 14-year sentence for a plot to poison a cafe, Sufian Abdu is rearrested on suspicion of incitement and supporting a terror organization.
According to police, he was arrested in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber following a celebration for his release in which he was waving Hamas flags and calling for violence against Israel. Abdu was brought to HaShalom Court in Jerusalem, where he was remanded into custody until Monday.
Abdu was arrested in August 2002 after he planned the poisoning attack and colluded with Utman Said Kianyah from Silwan, a chef in Jerusalem’s downtown Cafe Rimon. The two agreed that Abdu would provide Utman with the poison who would then put it in the cafe customers’ food and drinks.
The poison was supposed to go into effect 15 hours after being consumed making it more difficult for authorities to identify traces of deliberate poisoning, making cardiac arrest a more plausible cause of death.
During the investigation, police showed that Abdu had made contact by email with various Hamas activists and expressed his willingness to assist the organization, where he was appointed to be in charge of the forum on Hamas's website. Abdu also recruited Mussa Nasser, who in turn raised money and recruited another friend, an Egyptian engineer, to assist in building rockets.
Or Tzemach, a lawyer for "Lach Yerushalayim," an organization that works for applying Israeli sovereignty in all parts of the city, responded, "I praise the police for their quick response in arresting the terrorist Sufian Abdu, who celebrated his release by inciting violence against Israel. However, unfortunately this is not a specific case, but a real phenomenon. Terrorists who are released go back to an environment that encourages more terrorism and violence. I call on Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan to create a release procedure for prisoners in order to prevent incitement on the streets of the capital of the State of Israel."
