Lebanon's Justice Palace in Beirut on August 30, 2022. (Credit: Joseph Eid/AFP)
BEIRUT — Following an accusation made by local Al Akhbar newspaper on Friday that “an officer and members of the State Security Service tortured a Syrian detainee during his interrogation and beat him to death,” the General Directorate of State Security clarified in a statement that the detainee allegedly belonged to a terrorist cell affiliated with ISIS.
Here’s what we know:
• State Security said that upon an investigation it conducted with the terrorist cell members, "they confessed some information that led to the arrest of their partner," adding that during the detainee's interrogation, "he admitted that he belongs to the terrorist organization ISIS, and that he was one of its fighters, and owes allegiance to them."
• In its Friday issue, Al Akhbar newspaper accused security officers of "attempting to cover up the incident, claiming that the detainee died due to an overdose. The newspaper also claimed that the Syrian man was arrested on Aug. 25, the same night when he was subjected to torture, without specifying the time of death. Meanwhile, the General Directorate of State Security did not specify when the arrest or the death took place.
• In its statement, State Security said that it immediately referred the "incident" to the judiciary, "under whose supervision investigations were conducted."
• ISIS was officially expelled in an offensive from Lebanon in Aug. 2017, but sleeper cells of the jihadist group are known to still exist in the country. Authorities regularly announce arrests of alleged members of the terrorist group.