A German court ruled that authorities illegally prevented British and Palestinian surgeons from participating in pro-Palestinian events in Berlin, local media reported Tuesday.
The Berlin Administrative Court ruled that immigration authorities had no legal basis to prevent Dr. Gassan Abu Sitta from speaking at the event last April. Authorities had alleged that doctors had sympathy for Hamas and could commit criminal offences during the event.
Abu Sitta, a British Palestinian surgeon who treated Palestinians who had been injured in Gaza for about a month during Israeli military elections, was denied entry to Germany when he arrived to speak in Parliament. The event was eventually closed by police just two hours later.
A court spokesman found that the ruling was illegal under the provisions of German Residence Law. This is because there was no reasonable expectation that Abu Sitta’s statement would put German democratic order or public safety at risk.