(Zaman Al Wasl)- Lebanese lawyers along with Syrian activists launched an appeal to the Lebanese government to approve general amnesty law for all Lebanese prisons for fear of the spread of the Covid19 virus as Lebanon’s coronavirus cases rose to 201, according to the Health Ministry.
Diala Shehadeh, Lebanese lawyer, said in a post on her Facebook page that “Given the current actual state of emergency, the Lebanese authorities must take an urgent decision to release all inmates in Lebanese prisons, especialy those who commited offences or crimes and spent one year in prison and not those are involved in crimes related to murder, drugs, and security crimes committed within or against Lebanon. This decision needed to be expedited”.
Nearly 283,000 people have now been confirmed with the coronavirus globally, and while at least 93,500 people have recovered from COVID-19, more than 11,800 have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University in the US.
The lawyer added, “The world is going through an exceptional time. The prisoner has the right to be with his family at this time, and this is important for alleviating overcrowding in the prison.”
Every judge, lawyer, employee, and warden has the right to be with their families, protected from the outbreak. If the epidemic spreads in prisons, then all detainees must be released, Shehadeh added.
The Lebanese lawyer Nabil al-Halabi said on Facebook that the Italian government released most of the prisoners because it could not protect them from the deadly epidemic. In Lebanon, the authority promised to pass a general amnesty law in the election season, but the coalition government of the militia and thieves did not discuss the general amnesty law only hours before it resigned. A group of hypocritical politicians threatens the security of society that will put the prisoner's family in a dramatic situation.
Abdul-Nabi Roumia, Syrian human rights activist, delivered a message to Lebanese officials via Zaman al-Wasl in which he said: “We support precautionary measures such as banning Friday prayers and gatherings in order to avoid any circumstance, but we as Syrians, along with many Lebanese, have brothers in Lebanese prisons, most of them without trial, or most of them spent more than their legal periods.”
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Inmates of Lebanon's Roumieh prison warned to begin a hunger strike in the coming days, if their demands were not met. Our source expected a humanitarian disaster.
He said that it is our duty to all detainees to issue a statement from all actors such as Association of Muslim Scholars, to bring the prisoners sufferings into light.
Roumia stressed the necessity of taking the issue of general amnesty seriously to avoid a catastrophe.
Lebanon’s prisoners are in a state of unrest due to rebellion and hunger strikes for fear of the spread of the coronavirus epidemic among them.
Zaman A Wasl
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