Amnesty International called on Israel, Monday, to give an aid worker charged with aiding the Islamist movement Hamas a "fair and open trial", citing allegations of abuse in custody, according to Agence France Presse. Manager Mohammed Halabi of World Vision's Gaza branch has been indicted on charges of diverting the millions of dollars of the charity's funds and equipment to Hamas's military efforts.
Amnesty issued a statement that Halabi "was initially denied access to a lawyer and when she was eventually allowed to meet him, he alleged he had been seriously mistreated in custody." The statement added, "The Israeli authorities must immediately investigate the allegations that Mohammed Halabi was mistreated in custody and may have been forced into 'confessing' under duress." It concluded, "Without independent and impartial investigations into these allegations the trial risks being fundamentally flawed."