5 Freed, 5 Remanded in Custody as Protest Movement Slams 'Political Detention'
The civil society protest movement condemned Monday what it described as “political detention” after five protesters were ordered released from jail and five were remanded in custody.
“First Military Examining Magistrate Riad Abou Ghida interrogated the detainees of Thursday's protest this afternoon, in the presence of their lawyers,” state-run National News Agency reported.
“He ordered the release of five of them and remanded five in custody,” it said.
“Arrest warrants were issued for them in connection with the charges mentioned in the lawsuit,” NNA added.
The ruling was referred to the military prosecution for “approval or appeal,” the agency said.
The protest movement identified those ordered released as Mohammed al-Turk, Khaldoun Jaber, Mahmoud Bou Moussa, Khodr Bou Hamzeh and Munah Halawi and those kept in custody as Waref Suleiman, Pierre Hashash, Hussein Ibrahim, Fayez Yassine and Rami Mahfouz.
The protesters Hussam Nahouli had been released earlier in the day.
“The activists have become political prisoners and we will file requests for the release of the 5 detainees tomorrow,” said protest movement lawyer Mazen Hoteit during a sit-in outside the Military Court.
Around 27 protesters were arrested Thursday after a civil society demonstration at Beirut's Martyrs Square turned violent.
Security forces fired tear gas and water cannons after some demonstrators attempted to remove security barriers in an attempt to reach al-Nejmeh Square where the parliament is located.
The Lebanese Red Cross said 35 people were treated for breathing problems at the scene. The Internal Security Forces said several policemen were injured in the clashes with the protesters.
The crisis began in July when the closure of the Naameh landfill caused rubbish to pile up on Beirut's roadsides, in parking lots and river beds.
There are fears the uncollected waste, coupled with the looming rainy season, could spread diseases such as cholera among the population.
"This isn't a political issue, this is a sanitation issue that affects the whole country," one protester told AFP on Thursday.
An emergency waste management plan devised by Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb and a team of experts envisages turning an existing garbage dump in Akkar's Srar area into a so-called “sanitary landfill” capable of receiving trash from areas across Lebanon.
It also calls for reopening the Naameh landfill for seven days to dump the garbage that accumulated in random sites in Beirut and Mount Lebanon.
The plan also includes setting up a “sanitary landfill” in the Bekaa region.
After he announced his plan last month, civil society activists and local residents of Akkar, Naameh, Majdal Anjar, and Bourj Hammoud protested against the step, citing perceived environmental and health hazards.
Experts have urged the government to devise a comprehensive waste management solution that would include more recycling and composting to reduce the amount of trash going into landfills.
The trash crisis has sparked angry protests that initially focused on waste management but grew to encompass frustrations with water and electricity shortages and Lebanon's chronically divided political class.
Campaigns like "You Stink" brought tens of thousands of people into the streets in unprecedented non-partisan and non-sectarian demonstrations against the entire political class.
Y.R.
M.T.
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