Lebanon\u2019s parliament passed the long-disputed General Amnesty Law on Wednesday, legislation aimed at easing severe overcrowding in the country\u2019s prisons by reducing or commuting the sentences of thousands of prisoners and detainees.<\/p>\n
The controversial law has inflamed Lebanon\u2019s<\/a> longstanding sectarian divisions in recent months, with Islamist protesters taking to the streets and burning tires in protest over provisions that would exclude some prisoners from the amnesty.<\/p>\n The Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah<\/a> deputies notably did not take part in the vote as a form of protest, according to Lebanese media reports.<\/p>\n Those convicted of terrorism offenses, collaborating with Israel<\/a>, repeat drug offenses, premeditated murder, and rape were excluded from the amnesty, which has been a particular point of contention for the families of those detained in the Abra clash. The altercation in 2013, which left 29 dead, saw members of the Lebanese Armed Forces<\/a> attacked by heavily armed terrorists loyal to radical Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir in a two-day battle in Sidon.<\/p>\n Those convicted of crimes not covered by the general amnesty may still see their sentences reduced. Those sentenced to life imprisonment will serve 12 years, the death sentence to 21 years, and any other prison terms will be served for a third of the duration.<\/p>\n The COVID-19 pandemic, Lebanon\u2019s economic struggles, and war have severely disrupted the judicial process, leaving many in a state of detained limbo in which their pretrial detention has extended beyond what the sentence for their crime would be.<\/p>\n As of 2023, 80% of those detained in Lebanese prisons were awaiting trial, according to the Lebanese Interior Ministry. At the time, detention centers across Lebanon had a capacity of 4,760, but they held 8,502 prisoners, including 1,094 who had actually been sentenced, Lebanon\u2019s Internal Security Forces reported.<\/p>\n Defense Minister Michel Menassa complained on Thursday that the military had been prevented from speaking at the Parliament, which spoke firmly against releasing those involved in the killing of military officials.<\/p>\n Sunni Lebanese Member of Parliament said that 79 Islamists would be released now that the legislation has passed, according to L\u2019Orient Today, and footage circulating online showed inmates at Roumieh prison celebrating the legislation.<\/p>\n Those sympathetic to the prisoners have argued that they were tried by a court too heavily influenced by Hezbollah.<\/p>\n The legislation notably followed only a day after Lebanon abolished the death penalty in a regional first.<\/p>\n Assir, who was already sentenced to death, is currently being retried, and his daughter-in-law told The National that he is unlikely to be released immediately.<\/p>\n Sunni MP Walid Baarini described the law as a \u201cnational achievement\u201d that he hoped \u201crestores the meaning of justice\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lebanon\u2019s parliament passed the long-disputed General Amnesty Law on Wednesday, legislation aimed at easing severe overcrowding in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247677,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[32],"tags":[100,1493,93,1915,975],"class_list":["post-247676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lebanon","tag-hezbollah","tag-lebanese-armed-forces","tag-lebanon","tag-legislation","tag-prison"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117088714894661977","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}