Parliament passes general amnesty bill in session boycotted by Hezbollah and FPM

Parliament on Wednesday passed a sweeping and long-awaited amnesty law that should benefit thousands of prisoners and wanted people, in the first legislation of its kind since 1991.

The office of the speaker of parliament announced the "approval of a draft law aimed at granting a general amnesty and exceptionally reducing the terms of certain sentences", which had been a demand of various political factions and a topic of debate for years in Lebanon.

Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah MPs left the parliamentary session on Wednesday after Defense Minister Michel Menassa was not allowed, for a second day in a row, to deliver a speech on the general amnesty bill.

A heated argument was reported on Tuesday between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Menassa, after the premier reportedly insisted on preventing the minister from delivering his speech.

On Tuesday, Parliament abolished the death penalty and debated the controversial general amnesty law that could reduce sentences or even release convicted militants, including those from Sunni Islamist groups.

Menassa’s speech was intended to voice the Lebanese Army's position regarding the general amnesty bill, but Salam reportedly warned Menassa that he was putting the Lebanese Army in confrontation with the Sunni community.

Family members of Lebanese soldiers and servicemen killed or attacked by Islamist militant groups have repeatedly protested against the law, some saying they had hoped to see the perpetrators who killed their family members executed rather than be issued reduced prison sentences.