BEIRUT: Inmates at Roumieh Central Prison are refusing to take their medication to pressure authorities to reduce the prison year from 12 to nine months, security sources said Wednesday.
The sources said prisoners at ward B of the prison complex, including those with medical conditions such as diabetes, turned over their medications to the prison administration to protest the government’s failure to meet their demands.
The government has not yet passed a law to reduce a prison year from 12 months to nine months, though Parliament recently passed a law that would allow prisoners to seek a reduction in their prison sentence.
Meanwhile, the families of Islamist prisoners staged a protest and blocked the main Tripoli-Abboudieh road in Beddawi, holding banners calling for the release of detained Islamists and a general amnesty.
During the demonstration, dozens of protesters blocked the main road in the Beddawi area and called on Prime Minister Najib Mikati to release Islamist prisoners, who have been detained without trial for over three years.
Police and army personnel closely watched the protests and worked to redirect traffic to neighboring roads.
The Islamist prisoners were arrested in 2007 following the almost four-month battle between Fatah al-Islam and the Lebanese Army at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon.
The government recently agreed to implement a number of reforms including the construction of a number of additional prisons across the country to reduce overpopulation in facilities such as Roumieh. The facility was built for around 1,500 prisoners, but presently houses more than 3,700 inmates.
In April, a three-day riot at Roumieh left four people dead and 10 others injured. Inmates were protesting poor living conditions and demanding general amnesty.
Human rights activists have repeatedly urged the government to implement further reforms.
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