BEIRUT: Relatives and supporters of Islamist detainees linked to the 2013 Abra battles protested Monday outside the Military Tribunal to demand fair trials.
Around 15 female demonstrators, holding placards and wearing niqabs that covered their faces and bodies, denounced the unjust trials.
"This is a scream against absent justice," one of the protesters told MTV channel.
Mohammad Sablouh, a lawyer with the legal team defending the Abra detainees and radical preacher Sheikh Ahmad Assir, said that the court "should investigate who opened the first bullet" during the 2013 battles.
"Why are they prosecuting our people and not members of the [Hezbollah affiliated] Resistance Brigades?" the lawyer said.
"We want justice."
The attorney accused "Hezbollah [members of] igniting the battles (to create) sedition."
A Military Tribunal session over the Abra battles is scheduled for Tuesday, but Sablouh said the defense team will not attend, which will force the trial to be adjourned once again.
The families and supporters of Abra Islamists continuously stage protests outside the Military Tribunal between the Mathaf and Barbir neighborhoods of Beirut.
The two-day Abra battle in June 2013 pitted loyalists of Assir against the Lebanese Army, and left 18 soldiers and 40 militants dead.
Assir was arrested by General Security in August last year at the Beirut airport as he attempted to flee to Nigeria via Cairo using a fabricated Palestinian passport, after more than two years on the run. He and dozens of other suspects are currently on trial.
Assir claims that it was gunmen affiliated with Hezbollah who sparked the clashes by firing at the Lebanese Army checkpoint in 2013.
Assir was transferred to Roumieh Prison in September after complaining of ill-treatment at the Rihaniyeh prison facility in Baabda. His defense team refused to proceed with his hearing unless he was moved to another cell.
Around 15 female demonstrators, holding placards and wearing niqabs that covered their faces and bodies, denounced the unjust trials.
"This is a scream against absent justice," one of the protesters told MTV channel.
Mohammad Sablouh, a lawyer with the legal team defending the Abra detainees and radical preacher Sheikh Ahmad Assir, said that the court "should investigate who opened the first bullet" during the 2013 battles.
"Why are they prosecuting our people and not members of the [Hezbollah affiliated] Resistance Brigades?" the lawyer said.
"We want justice."
The attorney accused "Hezbollah [members of] igniting the battles (to create) sedition."
A Military Tribunal session over the Abra battles is scheduled for Tuesday, but Sablouh said the defense team will not attend, which will force the trial to be adjourned once again.
The families and supporters of Abra Islamists continuously stage protests outside the Military Tribunal between the Mathaf and Barbir neighborhoods of Beirut.
The two-day Abra battle in June 2013 pitted loyalists of Assir against the Lebanese Army, and left 18 soldiers and 40 militants dead.
Assir was arrested by General Security in August last year at the Beirut airport as he attempted to flee to Nigeria via Cairo using a fabricated Palestinian passport, after more than two years on the run. He and dozens of other suspects are currently on trial.
Assir claims that it was gunmen affiliated with Hezbollah who sparked the clashes by firing at the Lebanese Army checkpoint in 2013.
Assir was transferred to Roumieh Prison in September after complaining of ill-treatment at the Rihaniyeh prison facility in Baabda. His defense team refused to proceed with his hearing unless he was moved to another cell.
Source & Link : The Daily Star
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