Prime Minister Nawaf Salam Discusses General Amnesty with Lawyers and Families of Abra Detainees

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam received Charles Arbid, the head of the Economic and Social Council, during which they discussed the council’s affairs and the country's economic and social situation.

Later, Salam met with a delegation of lawyers along with some family members of detainees from the Abra events currently held in Lebanese prisons. The delegation included lawyers Muhammad Sablouh, Hafiz Bakour, Jihad Deeb, Muhammad Al-Dahabi, and gentlemen Hadi Al-Qawas, Ibrahim Al-Rawas, and Muhammad Al-Shamiya.

Following the meeting, lawyer Muhammad Sablouh spoke on behalf of the delegation, stating: "Today we met with Prime Minister Salam and thanked him for his initiative in bringing together the deputies who submitted the draft law and for presenting a set of ideas aimed at alleviating the injustice faced by the people."

He added, "We informed the Prime Minister about the injustice suffered by Islamist detainees, specifically regarding the Abra case. We handed him evidence including video clips and photographs that confirm the involvement of Hezbollah and the Resistance Brigades in the killing of Lebanese Army martyrs. We also presented him with a letter from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, which confirms that the trial of Sheikh Ahmad Al-Assir did not meet fair trial standards."

"We came today to affirm our rejection of any general amnesty that is not fair and comprehensive and does not remove the injustice against individuals who paid the price of their imprisonment due to their support for the Syrian revolution," Sablouh stated.

"We thank the Prime Minister for this initiative and emphasized the importance of the three points he adopted in cooperation with the deputies who submitted the draft law, which are:

First, replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment without reintroducing the legal complexities and obstacles that occurred previously.

Second, releasing anyone who has served 12 years in prison, with the condition that their trial continues outside prison without the previous hindrances or obstacles.

Third, preserving the rights of private plaintiffs in the general amnesty law without linking the waiver of personal rights to benefiting from sentence reductions."

Sablouh further stated, "We demand the implementation of the initiative launched by the Prime Minister and followed up by the deputies, as it would alleviate injustice. If there were justice and a fair judiciary, we would not be here. We seek justice in this country and hope that the Prime Minister’s initiative, alongside the efforts of the deputies—who will hold a meeting to adopt the three proposals without any amendments—will bear fruit."

"It is unacceptable in any self-respecting country for a person to remain in prison for 12 or 15 years without release," he added.

"For this reason, we stand firmly behind the Prime Minister’s initiative and have urged him to continue following up on this file with the deputies to ensure the approval of a general amnesty that at least addresses the problem of prison overcrowding and simultaneously removes injustice from the people, hoping this will serve as a gateway to a true national reconciliation."