Saqr Orders Arrest of Five Inmates over Alleged Sectarian Threats inside Prisons

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr ordered on Wednesday the arrest a number of inmates over sectarian threats made from al-Qobbeh, Baalbek, and Roumieh prisons, reported the National News Agency.

He ordered the arrest of five Roumieh prisoners and an undisclosed number of Qobbeh jail inmates.

He tasked Judge Sami Sader to follow up on the investigations in the case.

Later on Wednesday, Military Examining Magistrate Judge Fadi Sawan issued arrest warrants against five inmates for their involvement in smuggling drugs in Roumieh prison.

Investigations are underway with a number of other prisoners linked to the case, reported NNA.

Pictures and videos surfaced in recent days in which supposed inmates traded sectarian threats from the prisons of al-Qobbeh, Baalbek and Roumieh.

According to MTV, the incident started at al-Qobbeh prison in the northern city of Tripoli, when Sunni inmates threatened Shiite and Alawite prisoners. The supposed response then came from other inmates who are being held at the Baalbek and Roumieh prisons.

“A number of inmates and policemen have been interrogated and the Baalbek prison does not contain the backdrops that appeared in the videos and pictures,” Gendarmerie chief Brig. Gen. Elias Saade commented on Monday.

“None of the masks and clothes (that appear in the video) and no cellphones were found at the Baalbek prison … and inmates of all sects enjoy positive relations among each other and they support each other,” Saade added.

He stated that “the issue seems to be a hoax,” noting that no marks of abuse were found on the body of any inmate.

Saade also pointed out that none of the prisoners have complained of abuse by other inmates.