Sheikh Ahmad al-Shemali. (Credit: Screenshot of a video circulating on social networks)
The families of Sunni Islamist prisoners held at Roumieh prison staged a demonstration in Beirut on Thursday, demanding a general amnesty, according to local media reports. Many protesters traveled from Tripoli and other parts of northern Lebanon.
Speaking on behalf of the demonstrators, Sheikh Ahmad al-Shemali, a representative of the "Liberation Party," threatened potential unrest if the detainees were not freed.
The protest took place outside the Grand Serail in downtown Beirut, where al-Shemali called for the release of what he described as "oppressed young Muslims," claiming they had been unfairly labeled as terrorists by Lebanese authorities due to their support for the "holy cause of the liberation of Bilad al-Sham [the Levant]," a reference to the ideology espoused by the militant group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Al-Shemali accused military courts of relying on "fabricated files" to unjustly imprison the detainees, calling for the courts’ closure. He directed his criticism at caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, "If our young people don't get out of prison, it will be the start of a great revolution."
Calls for a general amnesty for Islamist prisoners in Lebanon have intensified in recent years, particularly following the weakening of the Assad regime in Syria and the rise of Islamist-led rebel coalitions.