Photo shows families of the Abra detainees during a sit-in in Saida, on September 2nd, 2022. Credit: (Mountasser Abdallah/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Dozens of supporters of jihadist sheikh Ahmad al-Assir, who is serving prison time for his role in deadly 2013 clashes in Saida, held a sit-in after Friday prayers in front of Saida's Zaatari Mosque, demanding his release.
Here’s what we know:
• The protesters raised pictures of Assir and placards calling for the immediate release of him and other detainees who had been arrested after the 2013 clashes.
• One sheikh gave a speech at the sit-in, demanding the release of “all prisoners without exception," describing the detainee's conditions as a “crime against humanity, as hunger, disease and death spread among them.” He also expressed support for Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, Lebanon's highest Sunni Muslim religious authority, whom he said had "asked for a general amnesty" for the prisoners.
• Assir was sentenced to death in Sept. 2017 for his role in deadly fighting in the Abra suburb of Saida, which pitted Assir’s supporters against Lebanese Army troops. Those fighting on Assir's side killed 18 Army soldiers in the Jun. 2013 clashes. However, death sentences in Lebanon have not actually been carried out in nearly two decades, with the last execution taking place in 2004.