The Daily Star - MPs approve draft law to reduce jail terms Read - April 14, 2011

BEIRUT: Parliament’s Administration and Justice Committee approved a draft law Wednesday to reduce prison sentences of one year to nine months.
Following a meeting at the Parliament, Baalbek-Hermel MP Nawwar Saheli said that the committee approved the legislation but that Parliament would still have to hold a vote on the law.
“Hopefully during the first general legislative session, the draft law will be approved as promised by Speaker Nabih Berri,” said Saheli, who chaired the meeting.
Unlike many countries, Lebanon’s legal system makes little provision for parole or time off for good behavior.
Saheli urged the discussion of options that would help thousands of prisoners.
Earlier this month, hundreds of inmates in Roumieh prison set the jail on fire to protest slow-moving trials, which are blamed for keeping non-convicts behind bars.
“An amnesty might not be a solution … but a second solution could be a general reduction of sentences,” Saheli added.