Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

Lebanon prison tensions flare after amnesty law suspended

thenationalnews.com · 23h · first reportShare

When the Lebanese parliament approved a landmark amnesty bill on August 12, prisoners at the country's largest jail in Roumieh cheered ahead of their expected release while supporters let off fireworks elsewhere. Weeks later, those scenes have been replaced by anger, despair and protest after an appeal was filed this month against the law by the Free Patriotic Movement, one of the Lebanese parliament 's largest parties, with the Constitutional Council – which then suspended it, pending its verdict, which is expected in the coming weeks. Rather than being granted what should, in theory, have been an immediate release or reduced sentence, many prisoners find themselves still inside. How many are on hunger strike is a matter of contention in Lebanon's jails, infamous for their overcrowding and grim conditions – but there is an acceptance from all sides that tensions are boiling over. Those close to the prisoners, some of whom shared images from inside Roumieh and described the apparent si