| The Daily Star |
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TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Dozens of families of detained Islamists held a protest in the northern city of Tripoli Sunday, announcing the beginningof a hunger strike over Parliament’s decision not to reduce prison sentences.
Carrying banners calling for the release of their loved ones, protesters gathered at the Nahr Abu Ali roundabout at the northern entrance of the coastal city.
“Our activity today is humanitarian and is not political in any way,” said Sheikh Mazen Mohammad, an activist from the impoverished and volatile neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh.
“This issue affects some 400 individuals who have been detained and their families. Many have been held now for four-and-a-half years without their files having been looked into, despite there being decisions that they be released … Despite this we have only the seen the release of four individuals.”
Mohammad said the cases of the detained Islamists needed to be dealt with justly.
“The vast majority of those detained have spent a period of time that is longer than the time they would have spent had they been charged and sent to prison, keeping in mind that the accusations range from selling mobile phone cards to accidental contact with someone.”
The activist said families were also feeling the strain of not being with their loved ones.
“There are social implications to these detentions. There are children who were only months old when their fathers were detained and now they are aged between four and five years and don’t even know what their fathers’ faces look like,” Mohammad said.
“There are also the hard economic circumstances of the families as a result of the detentions,” he added.
Mohammad said the protesters hoped there could be a resolution to the problem under the government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, “and he is the city’s son … we wish him well, for he is a man of justice.”
Um Bilal, mother of one of those detained, said her son, “as many others, was arrested two months before the fighting in Nahr al-Bared and those who were held had surrendered themselves to the security agencies voluntarily because they did not commit crimes that would carry such pain for them and their families.”
She was referring to 106 days of fighting in 2007 between the Lebanese Army and the Al-Qaeda inspired Fatah al-Islam militant group.
“I urge [State Prosecutor] Judge Saeed Mirza to take the necessary decision to release those detained and I would like to say here that those men were detained only because they were Sunnis, or because they are devout in their faith, and they did not do anything that harmed the nation and its security.”
Sheikh Nabil Rhaim, who was recently released, said the protest was aimed at “the refusal of Parliament to decreases the one-year prison sentence, for there is oppression taking place against our brothers who are being held under the pretext of the Nahr al-Bared war.”
“Even till this day, not one of them has been charged and no accusations have been made. Where are these indictments that haven’t been issued despite the passage of four years … and I urge Judge Mirza to release the prisoners because he knows they are not guilty and that they have no links to any offense.
He also urged Tripoli lawmakers to vote to amend the law pertaining to the one-year prison sentence.
Carrying banners calling for the release of their loved ones, protesters gathered at the Nahr Abu Ali roundabout at the northern entrance of the coastal city.
“Our activity today is humanitarian and is not political in any way,” said Sheikh Mazen Mohammad, an activist from the impoverished and volatile neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh.
“This issue affects some 400 individuals who have been detained and their families. Many have been held now for four-and-a-half years without their files having been looked into, despite there being decisions that they be released … Despite this we have only the seen the release of four individuals.”
Mohammad said the cases of the detained Islamists needed to be dealt with justly.
“The vast majority of those detained have spent a period of time that is longer than the time they would have spent had they been charged and sent to prison, keeping in mind that the accusations range from selling mobile phone cards to accidental contact with someone.”
The activist said families were also feeling the strain of not being with their loved ones.
“There are social implications to these detentions. There are children who were only months old when their fathers were detained and now they are aged between four and five years and don’t even know what their fathers’ faces look like,” Mohammad said.
“There are also the hard economic circumstances of the families as a result of the detentions,” he added.
Mohammad said the protesters hoped there could be a resolution to the problem under the government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, “and he is the city’s son … we wish him well, for he is a man of justice.”
Um Bilal, mother of one of those detained, said her son, “as many others, was arrested two months before the fighting in Nahr al-Bared and those who were held had surrendered themselves to the security agencies voluntarily because they did not commit crimes that would carry such pain for them and their families.”
She was referring to 106 days of fighting in 2007 between the Lebanese Army and the Al-Qaeda inspired Fatah al-Islam militant group.
“I urge [State Prosecutor] Judge Saeed Mirza to take the necessary decision to release those detained and I would like to say here that those men were detained only because they were Sunnis, or because they are devout in their faith, and they did not do anything that harmed the nation and its security.”
Sheikh Nabil Rhaim, who was recently released, said the protest was aimed at “the refusal of Parliament to decreases the one-year prison sentence, for there is oppression taking place against our brothers who are being held under the pretext of the Nahr al-Bared war.”
“Even till this day, not one of them has been charged and no accusations have been made. Where are these indictments that haven’t been issued despite the passage of four years … and I urge Judge Mirza to release the prisoners because he knows they are not guilty and that they have no links to any offense.
He also urged Tripoli lawmakers to vote to amend the law pertaining to the one-year prison sentence.
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