Following the release earlier this
month of senior Free Patriotic Movement official Fayez Karam, who served a
relatively short sentence of 20 months for contact with Israel, protesters have
been staging regular demonstrations demanding the release of Islamists jailed
without charge.
Until now, the protests have been
taking place in Tripoli , but this Friday around
300 demonstrators took to the streets of downtown Beirut
“We’re here for the Islamic
prisoners to give them freedom,” said Abdel-Salam Karameh, who like many others
had traveled from Tripoli
“In Lebanon
Karam was sentenced to two years in
jail but benefited from new legislation that reduces the prison year from 12 to
nine months, allowing him to be released after 20 months behind bars.
Demonstrators complained bitterly
that while Karam received a swift trial and sentencing and subsequently
benefited from the new law, many Islamists have been held without charge for
five years.
Dozens of Islamists were detained
following the three-month battle between the Lebanese Army and Fatah al-Islam
militants at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in 2007. Many have yet
to be charged or face trial.
Addressing the crowd, Nabil Rahim, a
spokesman for the demonstrators, said that they were with neither the March 8
nor the March 14 coalitions.
“Our goals are humanitarian and
ethical,” he said.
Nabil Halabi, an activist who also
addressed the demonstrators, called on the government to take action,
specifically for those detainees who are innocent and being held without trial.
Firebrand Sheikh Ahmad Assir, a
well-known Salafist from Sidon
With additional reporting by Atallah al-Salim.
By Justin Salhani, Stephen Dockery
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