Families of Inmates Block Roads Demanding General Amnesty

Families of prisoners in Lebanese jails blocked several roads with burning tires on Tuesday demanding a general amnesty for the inmates, the National News Agency reported.

“We will preserve security during our protests in Beirut. We have coordinated with the security forces our movement,” head of the detainees committees Khodor Habib told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).

However, security forces reopened the airport road and Msharafieh while the families of the inmates began rallying in Mar Mikhael and burning tires there.

VDL (100.5) reported that the protesters will head to Roumieh prison, noting that inmates will stage a hunger strike in coordination with the families.

Prisoners' chaplain Father Marwan Ghanem told Voice VDL (93.3) that inmates at Roumieh prison didn’t stage any protest yet.

He said that the families of the prisoners are trying to pressure the Parliament to pass a law reducing a prison year to nine months.

The cabinet has approved a bill allowing prisoners to request a reduction in their sentence, but the Parliament did not pass a draft law which would make one year of prison sentence equivalent to nine months.

Lebanon's overcrowded prisons witnessed sporadic prison breaks in recent years and escalating riots over the past months as inmates living in poor conditions demand better treatment.