BRUSSELS: The European parliament’s president called on Israel on Wednesday to release an Irish EU lawmaker who is among more than 20 people detained for trying to break a naval blockade by sailing to Gaza.
Paul Murphy, an Irish Socialist Party member, is among some 20 people who are still held near Tel Aviv after refusing to be immediately expelled from Israel.
European parliament president Jerzy Buzek "calls on Israeli authorities to quickly free Paul Murphy and other Europeans detained with him," Buzek’s spokesman Robert Golanski told AFP.
Buzek urges Israeli authorities must "respect the rights" of the detainees, Golanski said.
A spokesman for Murphy’s leftist group in the parliament said the MEP "considers that he was kidnapped in international waters," and refuses to be expelled immediately because he challenges the fact he has to appear before an Israeli judge.
The Israeli interior ministry said Sunday that the 21 activists were being held pending proceedings against their deportation before an Israeli judge.
The 21 were among 27 passengers and crew aboard two ships intercepted by the Israeli navy as they tried to run the blockade of the Gaza Strip last week.
Israeli commandos boarded the Irish-flagged Saoirse (Freedom) and the Canadian ship Tahrir (Liberation) in international waters off Gaza on Friday before the navy escorted them to the port of Ashdod.
Six passengers were released on Saturday — an Arab-Israeli, two Greek crewmen, and three journalists from Egypt, Spain and the United States.
