BEIRUT: Calm returned to Roumieh prison Friday after 10 Internal Security Forces personnel were freed after being taken hostage during a two-hour riot at the facility’s terrorism unit, a security source said.
The source also said five policemen and 15 inmates were wounded during the riot, which coincided with judicial meetings that focused on speeding up trials for detainees.Lebanon’s prison commander, Col. Amer Zaylaa, said the hostages – an ISF lieutenant and nine soldiers – were freed at 8:50 a.m., nearly two hours after the riot began.The hostages were freed in a unique operation carried out by an [ISF] special Panthers unit and a rapid deployment squad,” Zaylaa told The Daily Star.Five ISF members were wounded in a confrontation with inmates before the prisoners, all Fatah al-Islam members, took the 10 ISF personnel hostage, the source told The Daily Star.Three of the wounded officers are personnel from the Panthers unit, and two are from the rapid deployment unit. They were taken to Abu Jaoudeh hospital for treatment.The source said 15 inmates – all Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian members of Fatah al-Islam – were also wounded in the mutiny that broke out at Roumieh prison’s terrorism unit when Lebanese Army soldiers were conducting a search after being tipped off about a major escape plan.
Five ISF personnel were wounded when they were attacked with sticks and sharp tools by the rioting inmates, the source said.The Military Public Prosecution has begun investigation into the incident.Roumieh has been beset by riots this year, as inmates protest overcrowding, food quality and other problems. The situation reached a breaking point in April, with several days of riots, during which several inmates died, prompting government promises that the country’s prison situation would be addressed.Meanwhile, Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi chaired a judicial meeting at the Appeals’ Court at the Justice Palace Friday to discuss judicial affairs and the work of the Public Prosecution and investigation departments.The meeting was attended by State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza and Public Prosecution and investigating judges in various governorates.Sources close to the participants told The Daily Star that the meeting stressed the need “to accelerate [court] action on pending cases held up by investigating judges, especially the cases of people held on precautionary detention, and quickly consider requests to free detainees who have already served the period required by the precautionary detention law.”In an attempt to limit overcrowding in prisons, the participants also agreed that prosecutors and investigating judges will not take a decision to arrest any person unless it was based on evidence necessitating the detention, the sources said.Meanwhile, the ISF’s Regional Command in the south organized a security-judicial coordination meeting, the first of its kind in Lebanon, dealing with the direct relationship between the ISF and the judiciary through judicial police.The meeting was also designed to improve the ISF’s performance with regard to implementing the notification procedures of judicial warrants.The meeting, held at the Rafik Hariri hall in Sidon’s government Serail, was attended by the ISF’s regional commander in the south, Brig. Monzer Ayyoubi, senior appeal judge in the south Samih Hajj, senior appeal judge in Nabatieh Ghada Bou Karroum and heads of regional barracks and senior judicial police officers.The meeting was aimed at improving performance and dealing with loopholes that mar the implementation of judicial decisions in a correct and effective way within the defined deadline, Ayyoubi said.
The source also said five policemen and 15 inmates were wounded during the riot, which coincided with judicial meetings that focused on speeding up trials for detainees.Lebanon’s prison commander, Col. Amer Zaylaa, said the hostages – an ISF lieutenant and nine soldiers – were freed at 8:50 a.m., nearly two hours after the riot began.The hostages were freed in a unique operation carried out by an [ISF] special Panthers unit and a rapid deployment squad,” Zaylaa told The Daily Star.Five ISF members were wounded in a confrontation with inmates before the prisoners, all Fatah al-Islam members, took the 10 ISF personnel hostage, the source told The Daily Star.Three of the wounded officers are personnel from the Panthers unit, and two are from the rapid deployment unit. They were taken to Abu Jaoudeh hospital for treatment.The source said 15 inmates – all Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian members of Fatah al-Islam – were also wounded in the mutiny that broke out at Roumieh prison’s terrorism unit when Lebanese Army soldiers were conducting a search after being tipped off about a major escape plan.
Five ISF personnel were wounded when they were attacked with sticks and sharp tools by the rioting inmates, the source said.The Military Public Prosecution has begun investigation into the incident.Roumieh has been beset by riots this year, as inmates protest overcrowding, food quality and other problems. The situation reached a breaking point in April, with several days of riots, during which several inmates died, prompting government promises that the country’s prison situation would be addressed.Meanwhile, Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi chaired a judicial meeting at the Appeals’ Court at the Justice Palace Friday to discuss judicial affairs and the work of the Public Prosecution and investigation departments.The meeting was attended by State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza and Public Prosecution and investigating judges in various governorates.Sources close to the participants told The Daily Star that the meeting stressed the need “to accelerate [court] action on pending cases held up by investigating judges, especially the cases of people held on precautionary detention, and quickly consider requests to free detainees who have already served the period required by the precautionary detention law.”In an attempt to limit overcrowding in prisons, the participants also agreed that prosecutors and investigating judges will not take a decision to arrest any person unless it was based on evidence necessitating the detention, the sources said.Meanwhile, the ISF’s Regional Command in the south organized a security-judicial coordination meeting, the first of its kind in Lebanon, dealing with the direct relationship between the ISF and the judiciary through judicial police.The meeting was also designed to improve the ISF’s performance with regard to implementing the notification procedures of judicial warrants.The meeting, held at the Rafik Hariri hall in Sidon’s government Serail, was attended by the ISF’s regional commander in the south, Brig. Monzer Ayyoubi, senior appeal judge in the south Samih Hajj, senior appeal judge in Nabatieh Ghada Bou Karroum and heads of regional barracks and senior judicial police officers.The meeting was aimed at improving performance and dealing with loopholes that mar the implementation of judicial decisions in a correct and effective way within the defined deadline, Ayyoubi said.
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