A Palestinian journalist ordered detained for four months without trial in Israel this week should be allowed to know why he is being held and to contest the accusations against him or be freed immediately, the International Press Institute (IPI) said today.

Israel’s military issued an administrative detention order on Monday against Omar Nazzal, a leading member of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate. A military spokesperson said Nazzal was suspected of engaging in “unlawful activity” for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a PLO faction that Israel has labelled a terrorist group.

Nazzal’s lawyer has denied any link between his client and violence, saying that Nazzal was targeted due to his activism and that the arrest was “political”. The freelance journalist was arrested last week at an Israeli-controlled crossing between the West Bank and Jordan as he was travelling to Sarajevo for a meeting of the European Federation of Journalists.

A military prosecutor reportedly acknowledged that he lacked evidence to bring charges against Nazzal, but the prosecutor convinced a military court that classified evidence justified holding Nazzal in administrative detention. The decision means that Nazzal can neither learn what specific accusations he faces, nor challenge those claims or any evidence that allegedly supports them.

IPI criticised the order and urged military officials to present evidence implicating Nazzal in wrongdoing or release him.

“While the arrest of any journalist is to be totally rejected, this case is extremely worrisome because the Israelis claim that the arrest is not related to his journalistic and union activities, and instead of charging him or trying him in court they have used a draconian administrative detention order,” IPI Executive Board Member and World Press Freedom Hero Daoud Kuttab said. “Omar Nazzal, a professional journalist, is therefore being held for four months without charge or trial. This is unacceptable.”

Israeli law limits administrative detention orders to six months in length, but the orders can be renewed without limit, leading potentially to indefinite detention. The Guardian reported that the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate says Israel is currently holding another 19 Palestinian journalists or journalism students in administrative detention, one of whom has been held for more than 20 years.

“The use of secret evidence to indefinitely detain journalists who have no meaningful way to dispute the accusations against them, much less learn what they are, is fundamentally unfair and a denial of due process,” IPI Director of Advocacy and Communications Steven M. Ellis said. “If Israel cannot show publicly why Mr. Nazzal and the other detained journalists present a real security danger, it should free them immediately.”