The conviction and imprisonment of the former head of a major US humanitarian agency in Gaza violates international law, UN experts said on Wednesday, calling on Israel to release him, AFP reported.

Four independent human rights experts found that the process that led to Mohammad al-Halabi’s conviction last year was “deeply flawed” and said the lengthy prison term was a “gross violation of the right to a fair trial.”

In August 2022, Halabi was sentenced to 12 years in prison after being found guilty of transporting millions of dollars and tons of steel to the Islamist group Hamas, which controls the Palestinian enclave.

Arrested in June 2016 and charged in August of that year, he denied any wrongdoing, and an audit by World Vision found no evidence that he embezzled charity funds.

UN experts, including special rapporteurs on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories and on the protection of human rights in the fight against terrorism, noted the “lack of evidence against him.”

They also criticized “the extensive use of secret evidence, closed hearings, restrictions on communication with his lawyer, severe restrictions placed on the lawyer in preparing his defense, and the failure to try him within a reasonable time.”

Experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, but not speaking on behalf of the UN, also condemned Halabi’s treatment during his six years in pre-trial detention, including solitary confinement and forced confessions.

He also allegedly suffered ill-treatment that could amount to torture, they said, noting that he had lost hearing in one ear as a result of the brutal beatings.

“By convicting and imprisoning Mr. Halabi, Israel has not achieved its intended goal of deterring all acts of terrorism,” the experts noted.

“Instead, through this act, Israel violates international law and worsens the coercive environment for Palestinians under occupation by using ‘anti-terrorism’ legislation to silence, punish and punish Palestinians who engage in legitimate human rights and humanitarian activities,” they say.

The experts added that Halabi’s appeal hearings were postponed several times, and Israeli authorities refused to provide access to files needed to prepare the appeal proceedings.

They condemned Israel’s “blatant disregard for the right to a fair trial, which expressly guarantees that defendants will be tried and heard without undue delay at all stages of criminal proceedings.”