Defense minister apologizes to families of fallen soldiers over controversial amnesty law
Defense Minister Michel Menassa expressed Thursday profound regret to the families of fallen military officers, saying in a poignant statement that he felt he had failed them amidst growing political pressures on the armed forces.
"I apologize to the families of our martyrs; today, I feel I have let you down.
"I apologize because I witnessed how political voices united to drown out the voice of the Army, and how positions aligned precisely when the military needed protection rather than siege. I saw those who turned against the institution that bore the nation’s heaviest burdens, and I saw them collaborate against it when the goal was to silence it," the minister said.
Parliament on Wednesday passed a sweeping amnesty law that replaces death sentences with long prison terms, reduces life sentences, and frees some convicted militants and drug dealers. It largely benefits Sunni Islamist prisoners, including firebrand cleric Ahmad al-Assir, by reducing sentences for killing Lebanese troops.
Al-Assir gained support in southern Lebanon for his vocal criticism of the powerful Shiite militant Hezbollah group’s involvement in Syria’s uprising that turned into civil war. In 2013, clashes between his supporters and opponents killed 18 Lebanese soldiers. He was sentenced to death in 2017.
Lebanese lawmaker Waddah Sadek, a Sunni Muslim and supporter of the law, told The Associated Press al-Assir could be released "between a year and a half and two years."
Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah MPs left the parliamentary session on Wednesday after Defense Minister Michel Menassa was not allowed, for a second day in a row, to deliver a speech on the bill.
A heated argument was reported on Tuesday between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Menassa, after the premier reportedly insisted on preventing the minister from delivering his speech.
Menassa’s speech was intended to voice the Lebanese Army's position regarding the general amnesty bill, but Salam reportedly warned Menassa that he was putting the Lebanese Army in confrontation with the Sunni community.
Family members of Lebanese soldiers and servicemen killed or attacked by Islamist militant groups have repeatedly protested against the law, some saying they had hoped to see the perpetrators who killed their family members executed rather than be issued reduced prison sentences.
- Some celebrate while others feel wronged -
Sunni legislators largely celebrated the law passing.
Bilal Abdallah, who represents the Druze-led Progressive Socialist Party, said the amnesty law is not intended to benefit just one sect.
"We are turning a political page where (Sunnis were) targeted, justly and unjustly," Abdallah told reporters in parliament. "Targeted by a regime, security agencies, and unfortunately the military tribunal with some of its unjust convictions."
Supporters of detained Islamists claim their sentencings came at a time when Hezbollah had greater political power in the country and larger sway over its security institutions and judicial system, directly targeting the country’s Sunni Muslims.
They also said the detainees weren’t allowed a fair trial and some were held for too long in pretrial detention due to Lebanon’s swamped courts.
Videos circulating on social media showed Islamist prisoners in the notorious Roumieh prison chanting "God is great" in celebration once the law was approved.
Source: Naharnet, Associated Press
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