The general amnesty law has become effective… a few days separate from implementation and the appeal “will not be filed or delayed”!

“Lebanon Debate”

After the President of the Republic, General Joseph Aoun, signed the law reducing penalties and referring it to the implementation phase, attention is turning to how to apply its provisions to thousands of judicial and prison files, in light of a reality in which Lebanese prisons suffer from chronic overcrowding and accumulated crises at the level of care and services. While lawyer Muhammad Sablouh sees the law as a humanitarian step that will alleviate overcrowding and injustice for a large number of prisoners, he points out that its success remains linked to the speed of the implementation mechanism and the cooperation of the Ministry of Justice and the judiciary. As for the file of Islamist detainees, Activist Khaled Al-Bobo estimates the number of direct beneficiaries at about 75 detainees, with others benefiting successively, while at the same time focusing on a number of political and legal reservations.

Lawyer Muhammad Sablouh, in an interview with “Lebanon Debate”, commenting on the signing by the President of the Republic, General Joseph Aoun, of the General Amnesty Law referred by the House of Representatives, explained that the law became effective after its publication in the Official Gazette, indicating that the threat to challenge the law before the Constitutional Council does not stop its implementation, except by a judicial decision issued by the Constitutional Council in accordance with the rules.

Sablouh said that if the law is not properly challenged, it is “okay, okay,” pointing out that the Constitutional Council, even if there are some errors in the law, does not necessarily reject it in its entirety.

He pointed out that today there is a huge burden on the public prosecution and the judiciary in how to implement the law and benefit from its effects, explaining that those who benefit from it are not one group, as there are people who benefit from amnesty, while others benefit from reducing penalties, according to the articles included in the law.

He stressed that the implementation of the law requires a “tremendous effort” from officials in the Ministry of Justice, noting that there is a mechanism that is supposed to be adopted for implementation, as there are people whose files are processed in the Cassation Public Prosecution, while the files of others are processed before the judiciary, if they are still with the investigating judges or before the criminal courts, criminal courts, or military court.

He explained that a number of other convicts benefit from the reduction of penalties, also pointing out that a large number of detainees may benefit from the law, and he expects that the release will include a large number of detainees in prisons.

Pointing out that the final numbers will become clear as the law begins to be applied to the files, he said that he believes that more than 2,500 prisoners in the Ministry of Interior’s prisons may benefit from the provisions of the law.

Sablouh stressed that this matter remains subject to the response of officials in the Ministry of Justice and judges, especially since the application of the law ultimately requires judicial interpretation, as the judge is the one who determines, according to each case, whether the person benefits from a reduction in the sentence or from other provisions contained in the law.

He pointed out that implementation is not supposed to take months, but rather its effects are supposed to begin to appear within a short period, which may be days or about ten to twenty days, depending on the speed of completion of the required files and procedures.

Regarding the President of the Republic’s signing of the law, Sablouh welcomed the step, stressing that it reduces prison overcrowding and alleviates injustice against a portion of the people, but he expressed his regret that the law was not able to achieve national reconciliation, hoping that matters will reach this reconciliation in the coming days.

He pointed out that the law is “humane” and far from alignments, and addresses part of the prison problem, in light of the state’s inability to secure food and hospitalization for prisoners in the required manner.

He stressed that the law is not a general amnesty law as much as it is a law reducing penalties, especially since a large number of people have carried out their sentences or are close to implementing them.

Al-Bobo: About 75 Islamic detainees will benefit directly

In turn, the activist in the file of Islamic detainees, Khaled Al-Bobo, explained to Lebanon Debate that the number of beneficiaries of the law to reduce penalties among Islamist detainees is estimated at about 75 people who will benefit directly, while others will benefit from the provisions of the law successively, after different periods that may extend to six months, one year, two years, or three years, according to the status of each file and the penalty issued against them.

Regarding the step taken by the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gebran Bassil, Boubou saw it as “a populist step and a propaganda step,” considering that it “does not end the issue that is happening and does not change anything in reality.” Rather, according to his opinion, it comes within the framework of political populism.

He added that the speech and positions adopted by Basil, in his opinion, were characterized by racism and attacks, especially towards the Sunni sect, considering that these positions contributed to Basil and the movement losing a large part of their popularity.

He believed that Bassil, instead of retreating from these positions or reevaluating them, “is recklessly risking what remains of his popularity and the popularity of his movement,” considering that populist rhetoric will not change the political reality and will not address the root of the problem of the Islamist detainees.

Regarding his position on the Penal Reduction Law, Al-Boubou confirmed that he welcomed the step taken by the President of the Republic, General Joseph Aoun, to sign the law, but at the same time he indicated that there were observations and reservations about some of the contents of the law.

He focused in particular on what he described as the targeting of Sheikh Ahmed Al-Assir, referring to the issue of his release and 12-year prison sentence, in addition to what he considered to be measures targeting the prisoner’s person, especially since, according to him, he has not yet been sentenced since 2017.

Al-Bobo said that he had “reservations and observations” regarding this file, considering that there is a need for a fair and just treatment of the issues of detained Islamists, and not dealing with them according to political or sectarian considerations.